The Royal Countryside
by keelykelly
Summary: What would have happened if Corinne and her friends had gone home after being banned? What would have happened to Louis? (It ends differently than you'd think! Thanks to Tilly0006 for the Title.) Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**(Howdy y'all! Okay. For those of you who were reading Double Trouble, it wasn't going very well on my end, so... I took it off for a time so I can actually get it flowing. :) Thanks for understanding! Enjoy!)**

"This is the worst night of my life." Aramina wailed "We've lost our jobs, we've been banned from the castle…"

"And we smell like garbage." Viveca finished as she picked up a perfume bottle and sprayed herself multiple times.

Renee sighed "So much from being musketeers."

Aramina sighed "What are we gonna do?"

Viveca placed a jewelry box inside her suitcase "We're all going to go back to our homes and forget about all of this."

"No!" Corinne said immediately "We can't leave! There's still a plot against the prince!"

"Yes." Renee said "And Treville and the musketeers _will _handle it."

"But it's..."

"Corinne." Renee cut the blond off and shook her head "We're already in enough trouble. If I end up in the dungeon, my parents will kill me."

Corinne stared at the three girls "But..."

"She's right." Viveca sighed "We tried. At least Treville knows now."

Corinne sighed as she sat down on her bed "What's going to happen to the prince?"

"Treville and the musketeers have more experience than we do." Renee answered "They'll know how to handle it."

"They couldn't handle the chandelier or the balloon." Corinne huffed "But, I guess you're right. They are more trained to handle swords and not UFOs."

"Well, you better start packing." Renee said, pointing to the blond.

Corinne smiled slightly "I… didn't bring anything except for my old clothes, my horse and my cat."

The other three girls in the room stared at her for a long moment, then they all sighed.

Twenty minutes later, they were all packed and ready.

"Well…" Corinne said quietly "I guess this is good bye."

"You know, Corinne." Renee said "When you first got here, I didn't you… at all. But now." she shook her head slowly "I wish we weren't saying good bye."

Corinne laughed softly "I know."

The four girls hugged then walked out of the apartment and to the castle gate.

"Hey," Viveca said "If you're ever in Paris, look us up."

"I will." Corinne took a deep breath "Well… Gascony's a long ways away. I better get going."

After a final good bye, Corinne went and retrieved Alexander from the royal stables "Come on boy." she said sadly "Let's go home." she sat Miette up in the saddle then mounted up. She glanced back at the castle and sighed. If only she could warn him. Her mind went to the passageways but she quickly shook off the thought "No. The musketeers will handle it." she reassured herself. She stared at the castle for a long moment "Good bye… Louis."

**The next evening, **Louis went down to the ballroom for the masquerade.

He'd heard about the girls being fired, and needless to say, he was disappointed. He had really hoped he'd be able to talk to Corinne some more... and apologize. But she had left for home last night.

He straightened his shirt collar then stepped through a set of large double doors into the ballroom.

"Prince Louis!" The Announcer called.

The prince walked down to the bottom of the steps and looked around at all the people.

"The Prince's sword dance!" The Announcer handed Louis a decorative sword, which he put into his belt, then began looking for a partner.

A couple of girls off to the side were arguing over who he would dance with. For the pure satisfaction of it, he chose neither.

After several moments he finally chose a dance partner. Like everyone else, her eyelashes beat ninety-to-nothin'.

"_If only there was a girl here who wouldn't be so… girly." _he thought _"Like… Corinne."_

She'd been the only girl who actually treated him like a normal person.

He just stared off into space as he danced, ignoring the constant chatter of his partner. What seemed like an eternity later, bright lights began to explode overhead.

Louis turned from his dance partner to watch the colorful firework display. Purples, pinks, blues and greens lit up the sky.

It was amazing!

He'd seen fireworks many times before, but it never got old.

He smiled as he stared into the sky _"Wonder what it would be like to watch fireworks from my balloon." _he thought _"Corinne would probably love it."_ then he mentally kicked himself. Corinne wasn't there anymore!

Just then, a faint sound reached his ears. It sounded like a sword being unsheathed.

He spun around to see a man in a blue costume with a lion mask standing behind him, a sharp sword in his hand.

Louis took a step back, then spun around and ran.

No one else in the room seemed to notice as they watched the exploding lights above.

The assassinator groaned in frustration. He raised his hand in the air and motioned to his men to follow the prince.

"Where are the musketeers?" Louis said to himself as he ran down a long hall. Just then, a man with one eye covered appeared in front of him, his sword drawn.

Louis skid to stop and looked back. Several men were coming at him. He quickly took off down a hall off to the side.

"Get him!" one of the men shouted.

Louis ran out a side door, hoping to come across a musketeer, but there were none.

He didn't dare stop when he reached the outdoors. Whoever was chasing him was _too _close.

The fireworks illuminated his path as he ran for the stables, the sound of shouting men right behind.

The stable hand, Serge, was standing in the stable aisle holding a horse when Louis ran in.

"Find the musketeers!" Louis shouted as he quickly mounted up "Hurry!"

"Yes, Your Highness." Serge said slightly confused. Then he ran for the castle.

The man with the half mask grabbed another horse and followed the Prince.

Louis' horse raced through the dark, deserted streets of Paris. Not a soul was out.

Everyone was either at the ball or asleep.

"_I hope he finds the musketeers." _he thought. The city soon vanished behind them and a long country road spread out before him, seeming to never end.

Louis gritted his teeth as he realized he was getting further from civilization, which was something he _hadn't _wanted to do.

He glanced back to see that his pursuer was no longer following and slowed the tired horse to a walk. The animal was panting heavily as it made it's way up the road "Sorry, boy." he said as he rubbed the horse's neck "Just keep walking." He allowed the horse to continue it's slow gate till the sun began to peek over the horizon.

He came to a bridge and stopped "I think we lost him." No sooner had the words left his mouth than a pain suddenly exploded into his right shoulder.

With a gasp, he gripped his shoulder as the world started spinning. Then, he toppled off of the horse, over the bridge railing and into the river.

The man with the eye patch walked onto the bridge and scanned the water below "Even if he does make it out of the water, he doesn't know how to take care of an arrow wound. And no one lives anywhere near here. He'll be dead soon." He took the reins of the horse that the Prince had been riding then went to his own horse "Philippe will be pleased." Then he rode away.

_**(**_**Drum roll! Bum bum bum... Okay, the story is ****_not_ over! What do you think? _)_**


	2. Making arrangments

**Marie ****D'artagnon ****hummed **quietlyto herself as she rode towards home. She'd gone to visit a sick friend, leaving Corinne in charge of the farm while she was gone.

When Corinne had returned to the farm late the previous evening, she had been downcast and quiet. Not to mention a little angry. One thing Marie had learned, when Corinne got like that, she wanted to be alone. So, Marie had taken the opportunity to go visit her friend for a few hours.

She was driving the carriage over a bridge when Alexander suddenly halted.

"What's wrong boy?" Marie asked the horse.

Alexander sniffed the air then let out a shrill whinny. From being a musketeer's horse for so long, he always knew when something was wrong.

Marie's eyebrows furrowed as she slowly got down from the wagon and looked around. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Everything was quiet like it always was. Apart from the occasional sound of a cow in the distance or a bird flying by.

She walked over to the bridge railing.

She scanned the water carefully, till she spotted a young man laying on the riverbank.

"Oh dear." Marie quickly ran down to where he was. He was still alive, but unresponsive. A deep wound in his right shoulder caught her attention. She cringed as she looked at the wound "I have to get him home."

**Corinne forked another **load of hay into one of their horse's stalls, then leaned against the handle of the pitchfork "I can't believe I failed." she sighed as she rubbed the pregnant mare's muzzle "After all that training and work." she straightened back up and got another fork of hay "But, I guess I try again next year and hope I don't get banned from France!" she chuckled slightly as she continued to work.

She heard her mother pull the wagon to a stop outside then a few moments later, go into the house. She quickly finished up the rest of her chores, took care of Alexander and the wagon, then went to join her mother inside.

She paused inside the doorway when she spotted her mom leaning over a large pot of boiling water.

"What's up?" she asked slowly.

"I found a poor injured young man." Marie answered "He's got a terrible wound in his right shoulder. It looks like an arrow wound, if you want me to be honest."

"Why didn't you call me? I could have helped you get him in." Corinne said with a smile.

Her mother chuckled "I managed."

Corinne shook her head as she walked over to the wash basin to get all the barn dirt and grime from her hands.

Some said that she inherited her stubbornness and determination from her father. But there were times she could swear she got it from her mother.

Marie turned and handed her daughter a large bowl of water "Carry that in there, please. We need to get that wound cleaned. I don't think it happened too long ago. He's in my room."

"Yes Ma'am." Corinne took the bowl and walked towards the small room. She gently kicked the door open and looked towards the bed. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped as the bowl of water fell from her hands and clattered to the floor.

Marie spun around curiously as Corinne ran into the room. Then she went to see what was wrong "Corinne?"

\The girl was standing next to the bed, her hand holding the young man's hair off his forehead "How on earth did you get all the way out here?"

"Corinne?" Marie said again "What's wrong?"

The girl slowly looked up at her mother "Where did you find him again?"

"He was halfway in the river." Her mother answered "Why?"

"Mama." Corinne said looking back down at the young man "This is the Prince."

Marie's eyes widened "Are you sure?"

Corinne nodded "I'd know him anywhere. Didn't you notice his clothes?"

"Not really. I just noticed he was hurt."

Corinne looked at the sleeve of his shirt and frowned "That's not his normal clothes. They must have attacked at the ball. Just like we thought they would." she shook her head in frustration "I guess Treville _couldn't _handle it."

"Well," Marie said, finally snapping out of her shock "We need to take care of that wound or he's going to be in trouble." she went back to the kitchen to get another bowl of water and some rags.

Corinne slowly removed her hand from the prince's head "You're safe here."

**Meanwhile, back in **Paris, Philippe had 'sent out search parties' to find his missing cousin and the missing Musketeers.

No one at the ball had seen anything strange. As was the plan, they were too distracted by the fireworks to notice anything.

"And you're sure he's dead?" Philippe asked his henchman.

"Yes, Sire." The man bowed "There's no way he survived."

"Good." Philippe smiled as he leaned back in his chair "Then, in a short while _I _shall be king!"

"**This is bad." **Renee said to Viveca and Aramina "Corinne was right. Treville _couldn't _handle it." she slapped her forehead "Why didn't I just let her talk? She might have talked us into something!"

Aramina sighed quietly "It's so sad. It's only a matter of time before they find his body."

Viveca nodded "If only we had done something."

Viveca, Aramina and Renee had been friends since they were little.

Aramina's parents owned a ballet studio, which bought dresses from Viveca's parents, and music and instruments from Renee's.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens when they find the Prince." Renee said "And the musketeers."

Viveca snorted "I would love to know what happened to the 'big boys'."

"Wouldn't we all." Renee responded.

Aramina looked out towards the edge of the city "I wonder how Corinne is."

The threesome looked at each other sadly. They all missed being a foursome. But… there was nothing they could do to change that.

**For the ****next **several days, Corinne and Marie treated the wound to keep it from getting infected. It was really deep, but thankfully, it never got into serious trouble.

But Marie was a bit worried as to what the trauma connected to the arrow wound might be.

"The wound is doing well." Marie said "But I know how bad that still hurts."

Corinne nodded slightly "Dad?"

"Mm-hm." Marie very gently checked the shoulder "He came home with an arrow wound once in his leg. He described it as it felt like there was a wagon loaded with flour sitting on him that was on fire."

Corinne couldn't help but cringe "Ow."

"And considering we don't have any kind of pain killer here," Her mom shook her head "And it's in his shoulder, he might just..."

"Mom." Corinne cut her off quickly "He'll be fine."

Marie stared at her daughter for a moment. She would _love _to know what happened those few days in Paris "We'll just have to hope he wants to come back and push away the pain." with that, she got up and left the room.

Corinne sighed as she shook her head "Please come back." she whispered, then she leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek "Please." then she stood up and walked from the room, not noticing a slight smile cross his face.

**The next morning****,** Corinne was sitting beside the bed reading a book when she glanced at him. His eyes were open and he was staring at the ceiling. She smiled with relief "You're awake."

Louis looked over at her slightly confused "Where am I?"

"Gascony." Corinne answered "In my home, Your Highness."

His eyebrows furrowed "Huh?"

"What?"

"You called me 'Your Highness."

"Mm-hmm." She said slowly "You're the Prince."

The young man laughed softly "I doubt that."

Corinne's eyes widened "Do… you know what happened?"

He turned his gaze back to the ceiling "The only thing I remember is something sharp jabbing into my shoulder, then falling into cold water. I don't know who was after me or why." he let out a huff of air "I don't even know why anyone would want to kill me."

"Oh no." Corinne breathed as she stood up from her seat "I'll be right back." she hurried from the room and went to find her mother "We have a problem."

"What?" Marie's face immediately registered that she thought the wound had gotten worse.

Corinne lowered her voice so that the patient in the other room couldn't hear here. "He doesn't know who he is."

Marie stared at her daughter for a long moment "Then... we'll have to look out for him till he does."

Corinne shook her head "Mama. How? We don't have any room here."

Marie could tell that Corinne was thinking up as many excuses as possible. She wasn't sure why, but she could tell that her daughter was concerned about spending too much time with the Prince "Honey, we can keep doing what we've been doing for the past eight days. I sleep in your room and you sleep in the attic... like you love doing."

"But..." Corinne shook her head "He's the prince! He's used to living in a castle!"

"He doesn't remember, remember?" Her mother answered, the amusement evident in her voice. She started stirring a pot of soup "I think some of your father's old clothes should fit him. He was about the same size when he was..."

"Eighteen." Corinne finished "Mom!"

Marie shook her head "Honey, we can't turn him out. What if the person who shot him decides to come looking for him? You've been training to be a musketeer since you were three years old. And I _know _you got some more training when you went to Paris. A musketeer protects the royal family no matter the situation."

Corinne sighed "Right. Then I guess... he stays here."

**(Thanks for the reviews!)**


	3. Not quite right

"**Glad to see **you up." Corinne said, spotting the prince sitting up as she walked into the room with a bowl of soup.

Louis smiled "Thank you. Thank your mother too. I'd hate to know what would have happened if she hadn't come along."

"How's your arm?"

"Sore." he flexed his shoulder a bit and cringed "Yeah. Sore."

Corinne laughed and shook her head "Well, it'll heal." she sat the bowl down on the small end table "Enjoy your lunch." then she turned to leave the room.

"Corinne," Louis said quickly, stopping her progress.

"Yes?"

"Um…" He stared at his soup for a long moment, almost like he was embarrassed to ask "Who… kissed me?"

Corinne's eyes widened slightly "Uh… You were awake? I mean..." she could feel the heat starting to creep into her cheeks "It… may have been… my mother." she stammered. Then, with a quick smile, she hurried from the room.

Louis stared after her. She seemed so familiar. But he just couldn't place her.

Corinne walked into the kitchen and started washing some of the dishes.

Marie saw her daughter's pink cheeks and grinned "What happened to you?"

"Uh… Nothing." Corinne answered quickly "Just… the steam from the soup was hot."

"Ah." Marie nodded slightly. That was a plausible excuse, but she had a feeling there was another reason.

Over the next few days, Louis continued to get his strength back, but not his memory.

By the end of that week, he was walking around the house.

Marie had given him a set of D'artagnon's old clothes to change into, since his fancier ones were really dirty and torn.

Corinne had to swallow a laugh after Louis had changed into the plainer clothes.

It wasn't because he looked funny. Actually, the brown shirt, brown pants and boots looked nice on him. It was simply the fact that the Prince now looked like a stable hand,

**Later on that** day, Louis approached Corinne's mother "Is there anything I can do to help? I've been sitting around for nearly two weeks." he smiled "And since you saved my life, I owe you."

"Just let your arm heal." Marie answered with a smile. She was _really _starting to like this boy "Or, you can use your good arm and take this bucket out to Corinne."

Louis nodded "Sure. Where is she?"

"Well. She's _supposed _to be doing her chores in the barn." Marie chuckled "But, she may have gotten mildly… distracted."

Louis raised a curious eyebrow "Alright." he took the bucket and walked out the door. He stopped for a moment to look around.

There was nothing but lush green fields everywhere, dotted with cows and an occasional horse.

He smiled then continued towards the barn. He couldn't help but wonder what Marie had meant by 'mildly distracted'. Corinne didn't seem to him like the type who would be slack in her chores.

The closer he got to the barn, a strange noise reached his ears. It sounded like wood hitting wood, and Corinne's occasional voice.

When he finally reached the front of the barn, what he saw inside almost made him laugh… but it also pulled at something at the back of his mind.

Corinne had a wooden sword and was battling with a scarecrow on a wagon wheel.

As he watched her flip and spin, he had to admit, she was good. Really good.

A few seconds later, she sent the scarecrow's wooden sword flying.

Corinne sighed as she looked at the hay-stuffed man "You're not so amusing anymore. After fighting with _real _people, you just don't get it."

"That was amazing." Louis said as he stepped into the barn, causing Corinne to spin around.

"Your High…" she swallowed the end of the word, then smiled "Louis. What are you doing here? Out here? In the barn?"

Louis chuckled "Sorry. I didn't know this was your secret hideout."

A smile slowly crept across Corinne's face. Who knew the prince had a mischievous bone?

"Your mom told me to bring you this bucket of…" he looked down at the pail in his hand "Stuff."

"Slop." Corinne corrected as she took it from him "It's for the pig." then she dumped it into the animal's feed trough.

Louis cringed slightly "Ah. Do… you need any help?"

Corinne glanced back at him. She had a feeling he wouldn't know how to do the normal chores. Not to mention, most of them involved using two arms "Uh… You can release Alexander and Tessa into the field." she opened Alexander's stall "He'll just follow you." then she slipped a halter over the pregnant mare's head then hooked a lead to it "Here you go."

Louis took the lead from her and nodded "Alright." then he walked away.

Corinne followed him to the entrance of the barn, then watched as he led the two horses towards the pasture "Oi, Your Highness. What will it take for you to remember?"

"**It's been ****two**weeks since my dear Cousin disappeared." Philippe said to a council group "I don't what else to assume other than… Louis is dead."

The Council members looked at each other and nodded sadly.

"Then, we must get prepared to crown you the new king." One of the council said.

Philippe sighed "The place was Louis' not mine."

"But you're the only other heir. You have to take it."

Philippe reluctantly nodded "Yes. You're right. Would... you please leave me alone for awhile?"

"Of course." The council stood to leave "Good day, Sir."

Philippe watched as they left then grinned "Who knew this would be so easy?"

"**Did you hear?"** Aramina asked "Prince Louis has been pronounced dead."

Viveca nodded "Yeah. It's sad! He was a nice guy."

"A little eccentric, but yeah." Renee agreed "But why can't they find the body?" she shook her head "Something is way up. There's more to this story than what we're getting."

"So… what do we do?" Aramina asked, starting to get a little excited.

"We have to figure out what happened to the prince." Viveca answered "Then find out who did it." she rolled her eyes "Especially since the musketeers went incognito."

Renee smiled "I think I know someone who would kill us if we didn't get her in on this. Does anyone know where Corinne lives?"

"In Gascony." Aramina piped up.

"But where in Gascony?"

The three girls looked at each other, then Aramina spoke again "How about we ask someone who's been here a really long time and knew D'artagnon?"

"Why didn't I think of that?" Renee groaned "Come on."

After asking around a bit, they finally discovered the location of the D'artagnon household. They packed their saddlebags, mounted their horses and rode out of town.

"We should be there by tomorrow afternoon." Renee said.

Viveca gasped "You mean… I have to sleep on the ground!?"

"More than likely."

"No way!" Viveca whimpered "The ground? Are there no Inns in the country?"

"No. Now let's go."

**As the sun **began to set, Marie went to sit on the back porch, where Louis was already sitting, staring out at the field.

"Hello, Louis." She said as she sat in her rocking chair.

"Ma'am." Louis nodded "It's a nice evening. Quiet evening."

"The evenings generally are." Marie answered "We lives miles from anywhere, so there's not many people to make noise." she chuckled "Except Corinne and the poor frightened cows."

Louis smiled then looked back out towards the pasture.

Marie squinted to see what he was looking at. She made out a slight hint of red and blond along with their Chestnut mare. She glanced back at the Prince, then she shook her head. She _had _to be imagining things. But the more she stared at the young man, the more convinced she was that she wasn't.

"_Why does she keep striking me as familiar?" _Louis thought as he watched Corinne start walking back towards the house, the horse following _"I've never met her before that I remember... but... there's just something about her."_

Corinne jumped over the fence and jogged up to the porch "Hello. Enjoying the sunset?"

"Hm?" Louis quickly looked out to where the sun was sinking, it's pastel array of colors was nearly breathtaking "Yeah. It's beautiful." He wasn't sure why he glanced back over at her just then, but she must have seen him because her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.

"_Pink? Has she worn pink?" _He thought back to the several previous days _"No. She's been in red the whole time." _he shook his head "Um... I think I'm going to go in."

"Alright." Marie nodded "Good night, Louis."

"Ma'am." He nodded slightly, glanced one last time at Corinne, then went inside.

Marie looked over at her daughter who was staring at the door "You know," she said, jolting her daughter from her thoughts "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he knew you."

Corinne shook her head "We ran into each other a couple of times." she frowned "He's one of the many people who think girls _can't _be musketeers." she stood up from her seat "I'm in the barn." then she walked off.

Marie leaned back into her seat and chuckled "I think my daughter's in love with the prince!"


	4. In the Country

**It was**** next **evening, when the three girls finally pulled their horses to a stop at the top of a hill.

"Get a load of this place." Renee mumbled.

"It's so cute!" Aramina sighed dreamily "Makes me think of Giselle!"

Viveca groaned "And I was looking forward to something… homey."

Renee snickered then nudged her horse forward.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Viveca asked, looking at the small cabin and large barn.

"It is." Aramina answered "There's Miette!"

The kitten was sitting on top of the fence, and seemed to be talking to the horses. But the girls quickly dismissed that as impossible.

When they reached the cabin, the front door opened and Corinne stepped out.

Her face lit up and she smiled when she spotted the three girls "Hey!"

The three quickly dismounted, then the four hugged.

"What are y'all doing out here?"

"Well," Renee answered "There's a little problem. You probably already read it in the newspaper."

Corinne chuckled "Don't get the newspaper out here."

Viveca gasped "Civilization is further than I thought!"

"What happened?" Corinne asked, slightly sure she already knew.

"The Prince went missing about two weeks ago." Renee answered as Corinne nodded her head slowly "They declared him dead the other day _without _finding the body."

Corinne crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree "What about the musketeers?"

"They're all missing."

Now that she didn't know.

"So," Aramina said "We were going to see if we could track down the Prince and see if he's really dead."

Corinne rubbed her forehead "He's fine physically. But mentally, he's not doing so good."

"In other words, he's pretty much the same." Renee commented, then she froze "Wait. You know where he is?"

"Yeah." Corinne answered "He's sitting in my living room."

"What!?" The other three girls gasped.

"Long story." Corinne said "Too long. But, to make it short "He was attacked, either fell or was thrown into a river, my mom found him and now… he doesn't remember anything."

"What!?"

"He doesn't remember he's the crown prince of France."

"What!?"

Corinne's eyebrows raised "Are you going to say 'what' every time I say something?"

"The prince. Is here." Viveca said slowly "In your house?"

"Yeah."

Renee quickly clamped a hand over Aramina's mouth before she could exclaim again.

"I'm not sure what to do." Corinne said "We can't take him back to Paris if he doesn't know he's the prince. Plus, that would put his life in danger again." she shook her head "Not to mention he has an arrow wound in his right shoulder."

"Wow." Renee said "He's been busy."

Aramina pushed Renee's hand from her mouth "So, Corinne. It's been forever! What have you been doing?"

The blond laughed "Aramina. Ir's only been two weeks and like... three days."

"So... tell us!"

"You pretty much heard it. The day after I got back, Louis showed up."

Renee smirked "You called him Louis."

Corinne rolled her eyes "Sorry. He thinks we're weird when we call him 'Your Highness' so I had to switch. What have y'all been up to?"

The three girls quickly caught her up on the past weeks events.

"We miss training." Viveca ended with a sigh "It was so fun!"

"Well, I do have a scarecrow you can fight with" Corinne chuckled slightly as she turned around "Come on inside."

She led the others to the house, pushed open the door and stepped in.

"Whoa." Renee mumbled.

The cabin was smaller on the inside than it had looked on the outside.

The living room and kitchen were connected, a small table sat in the middle. Two doors, not far from each other indicated where the rooms were.

The living room had two rocking chairs and a small couch. Louis was sitting on the couch.

"He _is _here." Viveca whispered, then she cocked her head "What happened to his hair?"

Corinne's eyebrows lowered "Mom." she said stepping over to the lady "Did... you cut his hair?"

"Mm-hm." Marie nodded "Looks nice doesn't it?"

Corinne opened her mouth then closed it again. Yes, he looked nice. But he was still the prince!

"You know." Viveca whispered "The whole stable hand look works on him."

Corinne rolled her eyes "Sit down."

Louis smiled at the girls "Hi."

"Hi." Aramina waved.

"Louis. These are my three best friends." Corinne introduced "Aramina, Viveca, and Renee. They're from Paris."

"It's nice to meet y'all." Louis got a slight feeling that he knew those girls from somewhere, but, like Corinne, he just couldn't place it "What brings y'all all the way out here?"

"Just came to see an old friend." Renee answered, not exactly sure how to answer the Prince.

"Are they staying?" Marie whispered.

Corinne shrugged "I don't know. Do we have anymore room?"

"They could bunk in the attic with you."

Corinne chuckled "Viveca is going to have a heart attack."

Marie glanced over at the three girls then at her daughter "How did you four become friends?"

"If I knew, I would tell you." Corinne answered "We're all so different it's not even funny. I guess it was just the fact that all four of us wanted to be musketeers."

Marie nodded then turned to the small group "Would you girls like to stay? You can sleep with Corinne in the attic."

Viveca gasped "Attic?"

"We don't want to cause any unneeded trouble." Renee said quickly.

"You won't." Corinne said "Besides. If you stay..." she smiled brightly.

The four girls beamed "We can practice together!"

"Practice what?" Louis asked confused.

"Nothing." Corinne answered. She smiled as she turned around. Not to mention when Louis finally gets his memory back... that might be when they could become musketeers!

"Why don't you go do your evening chores?" Marie suggested "Dinner should be ready by then."

"Yes Ma'am." Louis and Corinne said in unison as they both headed for the door.

Louis opened the door and allowed Corinne to pass through then followed.

"Wait wait wait." Viveca said "The _Prince _is doing chores?"

"Since he only has one arm to work with, he lets out and brings in the horses." Marie answered "He can use his other arm a little bit now, so that helps."

Renee stood up from where she had sat on the floor "Let's go see if we can help."

Viveca's face twisted into a look of disgust "In a... barn?"

"This is going to be so much fun!" Aramina squealed "Experience stories in real life!" then she bounded out the door.

Renee grabbed Viveca's wrist and pulled her out the door.

Marie shook her head and smiled "I have a Prince, a fashionist, a musician, a romantic and a... well... Corinne, under one roof on a farm." she chuckled "This could get interesting."

"**Nice barn." Viveca **groaned as she and the other two stepped inside.

Corinne smiled from where she was mucking out a stall "What's up?"

"We came to help." Aramina said "What can we do?"

Corinne stared at the three for a long moment "Renee, have you ever milked a cow?"

"No."

"Alright." the blond sat down her pitchfork and let out a high pitched whistle. A few moments later, a heifer came wandering in "This is Jaylee." Corinne said as she led the cow over to where a stool was sitting and secured her to a post "Wanna give it a try?"

"Sure." Renee shrugged then went and sat down on the stool "What do I do?"

Corinne quickly showed her how to get the milk from the cow "Have fun." then she turned to Aramina "There's a hen house on the back of the barn. Baskets are already out there."

"Yes!" Aramina cheered "I get to collect eggs!" then she ran off.

"And Viveca..." Corinne stared at the brunette for a long moment, trying to think of a farm chore that wouldn't be totally evil to give to the fashionista "There's some clothes lines out behind the house. Fold and take in?"

Viveca sighed with relief "Clothes. Yes, clothes I can do." then she happily left the barn.

Corinne picked up her pitchfork and turned to resume her chore "Until she sees the clothes."

Two minutes later, there was a high pitched scream.

"I think she reached the clothes line." Corinne cringed.

Renee laughed "Hey, I think we have some milkshakes."

Aramina came walking into the barn with a basket "Well, I got a couple of eggs. But I think they're a little scrambled."

The three burst out laughing just as Marie came running in "What happened?"

"Nothing, Mom." Corinne answered "Viveca just saw our wardrobe. That's all." she finished mucking out the stalls then started putting the food in the bins.

"Here's the horses." Louis said as he walked in leading Tessa, Alexander just following behind "Who screamed?"

"Viveca." Corinne chuckled "Here, I'll take 'em." When she took the lead from him, their hands slightly met, causing both of them to freeze momentarily.

Renee and Aramina glanced at each other as Corinne hurried over to the stall, her face taking on a pink hue.

Aramina smiled them mouthed "Oooh."

"Thanks." Corinne said a moment later "You... um... can go inside. See if mom needs anything."

Louis nodded "Uh... yeah. Sure. Right." with a nod he quickly retreated from the barn.

"What was _that _all about?" Renee asked with a smirk.

"What?" Corinne asked locking the stalls.

"The blushing and the stammering." Aramina answered "Your fingers barely bumped and it about sent the both of you into oblivion."

Corinne tossed a forkful of hay into Alexander's stall "I... don't know what you're talking about."

"We're talking about your strangely endearing crush on Prince Louis." Renee said.

"What!?" Corinne dropped her pitchfork and spun around "Are you crazy!?"

"No."

"I do not have a... like Prince Louis!"

Aramina smiled "Are you sure? Your face turned awfully pink a little bit ago."

"That doesn't mean anything." Corinne shook her head then turned back to her work.

Renee shrugged then reached down and picked up a couple of dried clumps of mud "Let's see how she's been doing." she whispered to Aramina, who nodded mischievously.

Renee took aim then shot the mud straight at the back of Corinne's head.

Right before it hit, Corinne spun around and swung the handle of the fork through the clump.

Renee picked up a couple more "Heads up!" then she threw them.

Corinne easily destroyed those too.

Aramina joined in the throwing as the clumps of mud flew across the barn. Corinne smashed every single one of them with the handle to the pitch fork.

"Dinner's do-" Louis started as he stepped in the barn, but was cut off as a he was suddenly pelted with small pieces of dirt "Whoa!"

The three girls gasped "Sorry!"

Louis shook his head to get the dirt out of his hair "Please tell me that was just dirt."

"It was." Corinne said trying without success not to laugh.

Louis looked over at her "What?"

"Nothing."

"Mm-hm." he turned around "Dinner's done. Your mom said hurry."

Corinne placed the tool on it's nail on the wall "Come on. Don't forget the milk."

Renee looked down at the pail "Thank goodness there's no mud in there."

With a laugh, the three girls headed for the house.

Viveca was sitting in the living room when they entered. She took one look at them and frowned "I don't even want to know."

Marie took the pail of milk and put it away "Wash up."

"You two go first." Corinne said "I may turn the water brown."

Renee and Aramina quickly washed off their hands and faces, then Corinne got off all the dirt that was stuck to her from playing baseball with the mud.

"May I ask why y'all were playing with mud?" Louis asked, a sight sparkle in his brown eyes.

Corinne shrugged "To have fun. That's all."

Dinner was served, and since there were only three chairs at the table, they all just crashed in the living room.

"This is really good." Viveca commented "What is it?"

Marie opened to mouth to answer but Corinne caught her attention and shook her head.

"So..." Marie said instead "How do you like the farm?"

"It's amazing!" Aramina gushed, then she went on about how adorable everything was and whatnot.

Renee leaned over to Corinne "What are we eating?"

Corinne smiled "Rabbit."

"Ah."

As soon as they were done eating, the dishes were washed and they all moved outside to enjoy the cool of the evening and watch the sunset.

"Now this is living." Viveca sighed as she leaned back and looked at the sky.

"Agreed." Renee nodded.

"It's sooooo romantic." Aramina added "Now I know why everyone always gets their first kiss at sunset."

Corinne chuckled "If you say so." she looked around "Hey. Where's Lou-" she gasped as she was suddenly doused with freezing cold water "What!?" She looked around to see Louis standing off to the side of the porch, an empty bucket in his hand.

Corinne stared at him "Did you just...?"

"No no. Of course not." Louis said innocently as he sat down the bucket. Then he grabbed another one, which was also full of water and threw it's contents on her "Okay. Maybe I did. It's payback for the mud."

Corinne jumped up from where she had been sitting "Payback? We'll see about that."

Louis grinned then splashed her with yet another bucket of water. Without waiting another second, he spun around and took off running, Corinne right behind him.

"For a city boy, he sure can run." Marie chuckled.

**(Sorry for the three long boring chapters, but I promise action comes soon! Here's a little Sneak-Peek into the next chapter: **

"**Are you sure **you couldn't find the body?" Philippe asked his henchman.

"Yes sir." The man answered "I searched the river. Maybe an animal carried him off."

"You're sure it's not possible that someone found him?"

"No one lives anywhere near there, Sire. It would be days before anyone would find him. By then, he'd be dead."

"And everyone knows who Louis is." Philippe stood up from his seat "So no one has found him." his eyebrows furrowed "Or you had better hope. I want you to go back to where you left him and find some proof that he is indeed dead." he looked back at his henchman "And if you should find him alive, kill him."

"Yes Sire."

**Well, bear with me folkz! Happy Readingz! Laterz!)**


	5. Trouble Starts

The chase went around the house and barn twice, then up to the top of a hill where Louis skid to a stop because the other side was really steep.

But Corinne wasn't able to stop fast enough to keep from running into him. They both lost their balance and went tumbling down the other side where they ultimately landed in a pond.

Corinne gasped as she broke through the surface and shook the water off her face.

Louis chuckled, pushing his sopping hair out of his eyes "Refreshing."

Corinne laughed "Quite. Is your shoulder okay?"

Louis moved his arm a little "Yeah. I don't think that little tumble messed with it none." Corinne sighed with relief "Good." Then she sent a large splash of water in his direction "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Louis chuckled and nodded in agreement "I think your mother would kill us if we caught a cold on top of everything."

He made it out before she did and offered a hand down to her, which she accepted.

As she stepped out of the water, her foot slipped on a patch of mud, causing her to lurch forward, but Louis quickly grabbed her.

"You alright?" He asked as he took a few steps back, pulling her past the mud, his hands holding her elbows.

"Yeah." Corinne nodded, quickly putting a bit more distance between them. She sat down on an old tree stump and pulled off her boots to dump the water out and wring out her clothes. After she got done wringing out the hem to her red skirt, Corinne undid the bun on top of her head and started squeezing the water out of her hair.

Louis looked over at her and smiled.

Her wet hair was starting to curl into little ringlets around her face while she kept twisting the water out of the longer hair.

She glanced up at him and froze "What?"

He simply shook his head slowly "Nothing."

She pulled her attention away from him and flipped her hair over to shoulder "Ready to hike back?"

Louis nodded "Sure."

He pulled her to her feet then she started back up the hill, trying terribly to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, the same ones that came every time he smiled or even looked at her. She shook her head. She _had _to stop that! He was the Prince. The _crown _Prince! And she was going to be a musketeer. The two lives just didn't mix... and they never would.

"**Are you sure **you couldn't find the body?" Philippe asked his henchman, Jasper.

"Yes sir." Jasper answered "I searched the river. Maybe an animal carried him off."

"You're sure it's not possible that someone found him?"

"No one lives anywhere near there, Sire. It would be days before anyone would find him. By then, he'd be dead."

"And everyone knows who Louis is." Philippe stood up from his seat "So no one has found him." his eyebrows furrowed "Or you had better hope. I want you to go back to where you left him and find some proof that he is indeed dead." he looked back at his henchman "And if you should find him alive, kill him. And anyone else who gets in your way."

"Yes Sire."

**By time the **duo reached the house again, they were nearly dry.

"What's up?" Corinne asked when she saw her friends smiling.

"While you were off gallivanting across the farmyard, we were having fun in the barn." Renee answered "With your mother's permission of course."

"You have to see it!" Aramina squealed, grabbing Corinne's arm "Come on!"

"I'm com- whoa!"

Aramina drug Corinne over to the barn "Tada!"

"Whoa. It almost looks just like the machine in the training room! Except for the scarecrows. And it's a little smaller." Corinne looked at the tall mechanism in the middle "How on earth did you build that?"

"Well, there was a bunch of old wood out back." Renee answered "And I've tried my hand at building few times. It all pays off."

"Dare I ask what that is?" Louis asked as he stepped into the barn "Or will I regret it?"

Corinne quickly twisted her hair back up into a bun then jumped up onto the machine "Turn it on!"

Renee did as requested and the whole thing came to life.

Louis watched in amazement as some wide beams began to swing around and the four scarecrows started swinging brooms like they were sword.

"Here's your weapon!" Viveca called as she tossed the pitchfork up to the blond.

Corinne caught it then flipped out of the way of one of the beams.

"Look at Louis." Aramina whispered.

The young man's mouth was gaped halfway open as he watched Corinne flip and fight the mechanism.

The three girls looked at each other and laughed "Smitten."

After a few moments, Corinne got the scarecrows to quit moving "Oh yeah!"

"Still wooden beams!" the other three called out in unison.

Corinne spun around to see two large beams swinging towards her. With a grin, she leapt into a vertical position and spun as she went straight between the two beams and landed on the other side "This is amazing!" she laughed as she jumped back to the ground "You girls are the best!"

"Why... do you need a machine like this?" Louis asked slowly.

"Because," Corinne answered "The four of us are training to be musketeers." _He had better not say what he said last time._

Louis' eyebrows rose in amusement, then he burst out laughing "You? A musketeer?"

Corinne's mouth fell open "What!?" she pointed back at the machine "Did you somehow _not _see that thing? What do I have to do? Rescue you from the castle roof?!" with that, she stormed from the barn, sideswiping Louis as she went.

He slowly looked over at the others. All three were standing with their arms crossed glaring a him "Uh..."

Renee shook her head "Despicable." the she walked away, the other two right behind her.

Louis rubbed his forehead "Oops." he stared at the machine for a moment. Why did what just happened feel familiar? Like he's done it before, but never got the chance to make it right. It was right then that he realized that if he never got Corinne to forgive him, he'd never be able to live with himself. He spun around and sprinted from the barn, looking in all directions for the blond.

Aramina, Viveca, and Renee were leaning against a fence watching the horses walk around in the field.

"Do you know where Corinne is?" Louis asked as he stepped up to them.

"Maybe." Renee answered, not looking back "Why should we tell you?"

"I... need to apologize." Louis slowly stuck his hands in his pockets "I'm sorry I laughed." he kicked at a rock "It's great that you want to go for what people are always saying can't happen."

The three girls turned around to face him.

"We forgive you." Aramina said with a smile.

"People say that girls becoming musketeers is as impossible as flying." Viveca said, taking the opportunity to try and jog the Prince's memory "But, it'll happen someday."

Louis nodded "So... do you know where Corinne is?"

"In the corn field." The three answered in unison

"Thank you."

After he was out of ear shot, Renee chuckled "Nice work, Vivi."

Viveca smiled "Hey. We can install a little bit of memory here and there. Eventually he'll get it all."

Renee nodded "Hopefully it'll be soon. Because I think a certain country girl is falling for him. Hard."

**Louis found Corinne **standing in the middle of the cornfield picking at one of the tall plants.

"Hi. It's getting dark." He said.

Corinne glanced at him "I noticed."

"Look, I'm sorry." Louis said quickly "I didn't mean to laugh. And I didn't laugh because it was funny. I laughed because it was different, and amazing." he saw Corinne's eyebrows go up slightly "I'm _really _sorry."

Corinne slowly looked over at him then let out a big huff of air "It's okay. I guess." she shook her head "Just, _never _say that again. Got it?"

Louis nodded a bright smile crossing his face "I promise." he held his hand out to her "Walk back with me?"

Corinne stared at his hand for a long moment, then she slowly placed her hand in his "Alright."

**Jasper rode to **the river and looked around "Maybe he washed away with the river."

Just then, he heard the sound of a cow somewhere in the near distance. He quickly rode his horse in that direction.

After riding a couple of miles, he came to the top of a hill that overlooked a small farm "What have we here?"

He pulled a spyglass out of his pocket and focused on the farm. He spotted three girls that looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't make them out at that distance "No sign of Prince Lou... wait." He spotted a couple of other figures walking, hand in hand, towards the farm from a large corn field. He focused in on the young man that looked like a stable hand, but quickly recognized him.

"Someone _did _find him." he looked at the other person who was with the prince, and immediately recognized her too.

The girl in the great hall that Louis had run into. The girl who had jumped onto the balloon and saved his life. The one who had been with those other three that had somehow figured out there there were swords hidden in the costumes.

With a groan, Jasper closed his spyglass "Of all people, it had to be _her._" he shook his head "Well, she's going to get what's been coming to her ever since she'd decided to step into Paris."

**It was late **as the girls were laying up in the attic chatting.

"I've got this idea." Viveca said "When we're around Louis, we can start talking about working at the castle and everything he'd know about."

Corinne nodded "Refresh his memory, so to speak."

"Exactly."

"You're brilliant."

"So, Corinne." Aramina said "What did you and Louis talk about on your way back from the cornfield... hand in hand."

Corinne was glad it was dark, because she could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks "Nothing. He just apologized."

"Just remember," Renee said seriously "He's the prince and he has to go back to the Paris."

"I know." Corinne shook her head "Trust me." Just then, she sat straight up "What...?"

"What's wrong?" Viveca whispered.

Corinne sat there for several seconds before she leapt to her feet "The barn!" she quickly jumped from the attic to the ground floor, not bothering with the stairs "Mom! The barn's on fire!"

It took Marie all of two seconds to follow her daughter out the door. The others scrambled after them slightly confused.

Corinne ran straight into the burning barn, completely ignoring the flames.

"Stand clear." Marie warned "Once those animals are released they're going to tear out of there like a tornado." she pointed towards the house "There's some buckets inside, you know where the water is. Hurry!" They all raced for the water, not noticing that several seconds passed and no panic stricken animals emerged from the flames.

**Corinne pulled her **sleeve down over her hand then grabbed onto the metal latch holding their mare in her stall "Hang on girl."

The fire was everywhere! Even though one side of the barn was open, the smoke inside was so thick it was suffocating.

All of the sudden, a hand went over her mouth and pulled her away from the stall "You've been getting in the way, girl." a deep threatening voice growled "And now I have to get you _out _of my way."

Corinne's eyebrows furrowed. She rammed the heel of her boot down on the man's instep then grabbed his arm and heaved him over her shoulder to the ground.

"You're going to pay for that!"

Corinne held her breath as she ran for the spot on the wall where she knew the farm tools were hanging and grabbed the first thing her hand touched, which happened to be the garden rake.

She heard the man unsheathe his sword and run towards her. His aim was a bit off due to the smoke, but still pretty accurate.

Flames were starting to swallow the walls and roof of the barn.

She could hear the sound of water splashing into the fire, but that didn't exactly take care of the fact that she had an armed man trying to kill her! Or the fact that it was getting a little too hard to breathe!

Jasper swung his sword at her, but it was met with the end of the garden rake.

Once Corinne located exactly where he was, she didn't stop moving. The rake spun at lightning speed as it slashed through the air, blocking every single one of Jasper's blows.

Five minutes later, Jasper fled from the barn, the smoke too thick for him to handle.

Corinne hurried over to the stalls and pulled on the latches, but it was no use. Either they were stuck or she was too weak to open them.

Knowing it was probably the latter, she pulled more viciously until the metal finally slid open.

Tessa burst from her stall so fast, that Corinne didn't have time to get out of the way before the door swung open, knocking Corinne off her feet.

She tried to push herself back up but the smoke had eliminated any oxygen that might have been in there. Her legs gave out from beneath her and she crumpled back to the floor.

Alexander's frantic neighs filled the air as the fire got closer, but no matter how hard Corinne tried, she couldn't get up.

**(And so it begins. I know Jasper couldn't have made it from Paris to Gascony that fast, but let's pretend that he did. :) Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows. And the offer to help. You Fan-Fic-Folkz are Awesome! Laterz!)**


	6. They Know He's here

"The barn's too far gone." Maris said "At least we managed to get the house good and wet."

Louis watched as Tessa came tearing from the barn. His eyebrows lowered "Why is she just now being released?"

"Do y'all hear that?" Renee asked, listening to Alexander's screams.

The five looked at each other "Corinne!" then they raced for the barn.

Louis and Renee ran straight in.

"We'll never find her in this smoke!" Renee shouted.

"She let Tessa out. She's probably somewhere near there." he covered his mouth with his sleeve to keep from inhaling all the smoke.

"I'm going to get Alexander and the other animals out. You find Corinne!" Renee ordered.

Louis nodded then made his way towards Tessa's stall.

The only thing he could see besides the smoke was fire, which just happen to be slowly working it's way across the floor.

The barn seemed to go on forever as he went on his blind hunt for the girl.

"Get out of here!" Renee shouted as she released the other animals "Go go go!"

Louis reached Tessa's open stall door "Corinne? Where are you?" then he spotted a slight shadow a few feet away and hurried towards it "Corinne!"

The girl was leaning against the side of the stall, holding tightly onto the wooden side.

He ran to her side "Come on." he slid one of his arms around her back "Let's get out of here." then, he scooped her off her feet.

It took Corinne a second to realize what had just happened "Don't hurt your arm!" she managed to say.

Louis looked her straight in the face "Right now, my arm is the least of my worries." he couldn't figure out how a pair of eyes could basically paralyze him like that!

A groan from a wooden beam overhead broke the moment, causing them to remember that they _were _still inside a burning barn.

"Do you think they're going to make it?" Aramina asked from outside.

"Probably." Viveca answered "Because they're right there."

Louis and Corinne emerged from the smoke, Corinne leaning on Louis' arm.

She'd asked him to put her down before they reached her friends, for various reasons.

"You're okay!" Marie said as she ran and pulled her daughter into a hug.

Corinne laughed softly "Sorry. Tessa moved a little too quick. She kind of knocked the breath out of me."

Marie looked at the burning barn and shook her head "You father built that barn."

Corinne nodded "We'll rebuild it. At least all the livestock got out."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Louis asked, his brown eyes watching her closely.

"I'm fine Louis. I promise." Corinne answered with a grin.

Viveca gasped as something cold and wet splashed onto her face, followed by another "Guys... it's... raining!"

Marie and Corinne laughed "A little too late."

"Water water water!" Viveca squealed as she ran towards the house "Ooh! My hair!"

The others followed at a bit slower pace, enjoying the feel of the cold rain on their burning cheeks.

Before Louis went inside, Corinne grabbed his arm "Hey, I..."

Louis backed up and looked down at her, allowing the door to close "Yes?"

"Thank you." she wasn't sure where she got the nerve or even the thought to do this, but she quickly kissed his cheek "I think it's safe to say you saved my life."

A slow smiled crossed Louis' face as he looked down at her "Just returning the favor."

He couldn't get over that feeling he got every time he was standing near her. And every single time he got a completely insane, overpowering and undeniable urge to...

Just then, the front door swung open "Would you guys like..." Aramina started, then she stopped, her mouth forming a small 'O' "Nevermind." then she closed the door back.

Corinne's eyebrows lowered in confusion, then she looked back up at Louis about the same time he looked down at her.

Both of them jumped back. How had they gotten so close?

"Uh..." Corinne stammered "I... um..."

"I'm going inside." Louis said quickly.

"Yeah." Corinne nodded "Would you send the girls out, please?"

"Sure."

Corinne walked towards a cover of trees that was in the field where the animals were trying to keep dry. They all appeared to be fine.

"How you doing, girl?" she said as she gently ran her hand over Tessa's side.

"You had better have a good reason for calling me back out into the rain." Viveca huffed.

Corinne turned to face her friends "They know he's here."

Aramina cocked her head "Who knows who's where?"

"The people who tried to kill Louis knows that he's here."

"How do you know?" Renee asked.

"Because, I got attacked in the barn." Corinne answered "That's why I didn't get out sooner. By time he finally ran, I still had to get the animals out. And it was a little depleted of oxygen in there."

"So when Tessa knocked you over, it pretty much finished you."

"Pretty much." She turned back and rubbed the mare's muzzle "We're going to have to be on our guard. There's no telling what they're going to try to pull to make sure Louis doesn't make it back to France."

"Will do." Viveca nodded "So, is the foal okay?"

Corinne patted the horse's side "I think so. But we won't know for sure till she's had a chance to calm down." she gave the mare one last pat then headed back for the house "Oh, don't tell Mom. I don't want her to worry."

"It's a deal." the other three echoed.

"**Sire, I'm afraid **I have some bad news." Jasper said "It appears someone has found Prince Louis... and he's doing well."

"What!?" Philippe slammed his hand down on his desk "Who?"

"It's that blond maid, Sir. D'artagnon's daughter, Corinne."

"Again!?" Philippe shook his head "How many times is that girl going to get in my way?"

"The other three maids are there also."

"Why didn't you destroy them? All of them!" The Regent shouted.

"I tried." Jasper answered "I set the barn, which is basically connected to the house on fire. But they awoke. Corinne ran into the barn to release the animals, so I thought I might get rid of them one at a time, but her fighting skills are far beyond expected."

Philippe shook his head in disgust "If Louis comes back you will be sorry!"

"I understand, Sir. But there's one other thing you should know." Jasper slowly slid his dagger in and out of it's sheath "I watched as the Prince ran into the fire and came back out with the girl. It appears he is... enamored."

"With a farm girl?" Philippe sat down in his seat "Go. And don't come back until Louis and his new girlfriend is destroyed!"

**(Thank you SOOO much for all the reviews favorites and follows! You guys encourage me to keep writing! Thanks!)**


	7. Buck

"**On Guard!" Renee **called as she swung her sling shot around in circles "Try to avoid these!"

Viveca was standing about ten yards away, a blindfold tied securely over her eyes "Just tell what you're shooting."

"I'm not sure." Renee answered with a smirk "But I found piles of it in the field." she looked over at the other two and shook her heads. Letting them know it was just more clumps of dried mud.

"Eww!" Viveca cringed "There is _no _way I'm letting one of those touch my dress!"

"Coming from the left." Corinne called as Aramina tossed a long pole to the brunette.

Viveca grabbed it with little trouble "Bring it on."

"If you insist." Renee sent the clump of mud flying through the air. Viveca quickly smashed it "Is that it?"

"It's never it." Corinne said "Always be alert. You never know when something's going to come at you from the back." she nodded at Aramina who threw a large clump of mud from the back.

Viveca spun around and destroyed it before it got withing three feet of her.

"Ambush!" Aramina yelled as she began to throw the clumps rapidly.

Viveca moved quickly, having only her ears to rely on.

"Seriously, Renee." Corinne said "This was a great idea."

"I know." the dark girl nodded proudly "It definitely takes coordination/"

After two minutes, Aramina tired of throwing and allowed Viveca to stop.

"How did I do?" Viveca asked, tearing the blindfold from her face.

"Amazing." Corinne answered.

"I have to agree." Louis walked over to them "I'm impressed."

"Thank you, Louis." Viveca smiled.

Corinne took the stick from the brunette and tossed it into the barn "What's up?"

"Your mom made a pie and wanted to know if you wanted any." Louis answered "But I can tell her you're busy."

"Don't you dare!" Corinne said as she laid a punch into his good arm "No one _ever _gives up mama's pies!"

"Ye-ah." Louis said slowly as he rubbed his arm "Ow."

The five quickly went to the house. Marie served each of them a large helping of pie.

"Country Apple Pie." Renee said after she'd taken the first bite "The City thinks they've got it figured out, but they're not even close."

"Ah, I miss Paris." Aramina sighed "Working at the palace had been like a dream."

"You worked at the palace?" Louis inquired curiously "That's interesting."

"Oh, it's beautiful." Viveca said, then she went on to describe _everything _about the palace.

Corinne could see a small gear turning in the Prince's head, but he still seemed clueless.

"Hello in the cabin!" Someone outside called "Hello!"

Corinne groaned "Perfect." then she stood up and walked out the door.

"Come on." Aramina whispered. Then she and the other two followed.

Louis turned to Marie curiously "Who's that?"  
"It sounds like Buck." Marie answered "He's a young man that lives up the road a ways."

Louis' eyebrows raised, then he walked over to the window.

"He is cute!" Aramina squealed silently.

Buck was a nineteen year old cow boy with dirty blond hair and brown eyes. He stood six feet, two inches tall and was of muscular build.

Corinne rolled her eyes "If you say so."

Buck pulled his stallion to a stop in front of the girls, making it rear up on it's hind legs as he did.

Aramina, Viveca, and Renee backed up slightly, but Corinne just stared at him dully.

"Whoa boy." Buck said as he brought the horse back down on all fours "Good morning, Rinny."

"For the ten thousandth time, Buck" Corinne retorted "It's Corinne."

"I know. But I'm allowed to call you Rinny."

"No you're not." she shook her head "What are you doing here?"

"We heard that your barn burnt, so mom sent over a care basket." Buck handed a large covered basket down to her.

"Tell your mother we said thank you." Corinne replied as she took it "Bye." then she turned around and headed back for the house.

"You know, I'm free on Fridays!" he called after her.

Corinne scoffed "Sorry, I don't do long distant dating." she looked back at him "And besides, I work on Fridays, Slacker." then she went inside the cabin.

The other three followed, each trying to smother their laughter, and not a one noticed Louis leaning against the side of the house watching.

Once the girls had gone into the house, Buck noticed Louis. His eyebrows lowered "Who are you?"

"Does that really matter?" Louis asked as he walked towards the other man "I take it you're Buck."

"I am." Buck took off his stetson then raked his other hand through his hair "Future steady Beau of Corinne D'artagnon."

Louis' eyebrows lurched "Really?"

"That's right."

"I don't think she likes you."

Buck shot a glare at Louis then jumped down from the saddle, landing just a few inches in front of the other young man "Every girl likes me. No one would refuse me."

"Uh-huh." Louis shook his head "It sounds to me like she just did. You know the Free-Friday-Slacker conversation."

Buck's eyes became small slits "What are you doing here?"

"Working. What are you doing here?"

The cowboy leaned forward til his face was right in Louis', but the Prince didn't so much as blink "Listen to me, Stranger. Corinne is mine, so don't even think about trying it."

Louis smile slightly "She'd not yours, because you don't have her."

Bucks face turned about four shades of red before it turned purple "It's on! But I guarantee you, it ain't gonna end pretty for you."

"**That was so **sweet of her." Marie said as she took the basket "She is such a sweetheart."

"Too bad some of it couldn't rub off on her son." Corinne said, rolling her eyes "He's more impossible that trying to get Louis' memory back."

"Speaking of Louis." Aramina said "I think he's having a showdown with Buck."

"What!?" Corinne ran over to window that Aramina was at as the others ran to the other window.

Buck was standing about six inches in front of Louis glaring, while Louis was just calmly standing there.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Viveca whispered.

They watched as Buck's face turned red then purple. A slight satisfied smile crossed Louis' face as Buck said something.

Then, Buck jumped up onto his horse and rode away.

Louis shook his head, obviously chuckling as he watched Buck leave, then he turned and walked back towards the house, not noticing the five girls looking out the windows.

Marie hurried back to the kitchen, smiling to herself _"There's gonna be a dual for my daughter." _she thought _"A Cowboy and a Prince. Oh my, this is getting fun."_

**Later that evening, **Corinne was sitting on the fence to the pasture watching the horses and cows graze.

She remembered sitting out here with her father. He'd tell her stories of being a musketeer and give her tips on how she could be one.

That was all back before he'd died in the line of duty.

"Hey." Louis said quietly, stepping up to her "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Corinne answered.

Louis climbed up on the fence and sat next to her, their shoulders were barely three inches apart.

"What... did you and Buck talk about?" Corinne ventured to ask.

"Nothing. He just introduced himself and everything about him." Louis answered "That's all." he smiled at her "So... what's between you two?"

"Nothing." Corinne said with a roll of her eyes "We _used _to be wrestling 'buddies' when we were younger. But, when I turned ten, him twelve, he got me mad."

"Let me guess. He said girls couldn't be musketeers."

"Mm-hm."

"And you blew up and are currently holding a grudge."

"No I am not!" Corinne retorted "It just so happens that he's arrogant and has an Ego the size the Caribbean!"

"And you're holding a grudge." Louis said teasingly.

"No!" Corinne shoved his shoulder, forgetting that he wasn't used to sitting on a rail fence.

"Whoa!" he cried as he tumbled off the back of the fence and landed with a THUD! On the ground.

Corinne gasped as she looked down at the prince, who's feet were still propped up against the side of the fence "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Louis groaned as he slowly rolled to his knees "I'm just glad the cows are on _that _side of the fence."

Corinne chuckled "Agreed."

Louis stood to his feet "Hey, could I ask a favor?"

"Sure."

"Um... Buck doesn't like me very much..." Louis scratched the back of his head "And it's not that I'm afraid of him, it's just I'd like to be prepared. Just in case."

Corinne nodded slowly "You want me to teach you to fight."

"Yeah."

She smiled "I'd love to. Starting tomorrow?"

"Definitely." Louis nodded "Well, I'm going to go to the house." he sent her a small wave then walked away.

Corinne looked back out towards the field, her heart sinking.

Miette jumped up onto the fence beside her.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Miette." Corinne sighed "He _needs _to remember he's the crown Prince of France! But at the same time I..." she shook her head "What am I going to do, Miette?" she looked down at the kitten "No matter how hard I've tried not to, somehow I've still managed to fall in love with the future king!"


	8. First day of Training and more trouble

Louis was waiting for Corinne the next morning _way _before sunrise, as she had instructed.

"Good morning." He greeted as she stepped out of the cabin "Well... I think it's morning."

Corinne chuckled "Come on."

"Mind if I ask _why _we had to get up this early?"

"Because, no one else is awake and won't be for another two hours." She answered, heading for the woods "I don't think my friends will take too kindly to the fighting lessons."

"Why not?" Louis asked, running to keep up.

"Um... they just wouldn't." Corinne replied _"Because you're the crown Prince of France! That's why!"_

Several minutes later, they reached a clearing in the woods.

"This is where my dad practiced." Corinne said "So, I thought it'd work fine." she held one of two swords that she had been carrying.

"Are these your dad's?" Louis said, taking the one she handed him.

"One of 'em. This one..." she held up the golden sword in her hand "Is mine."

"I have a question." Louis said slowly "I don't think I'm going to need a sword against Buck. So..."

"I know." Corinne interrupted "But it's always good to be ready." _"Especially if the Regent's men decide to attack again."_

And so, the lessons began. It wasn't long till it became clear that Louis was a natural with the sword, which was highly confusing.

"Have... you done this before?" She asked.

Louis scratched his head "Not that I remember." just then, something flashed through his mind. He was a little boy, about six years old

"_Here you go, Louis." A gentle, yet confident voice said, placing a large, heavy sword in his hand. The man knelt behind the child and helped support the sword, while off to the side a calm motherly voice urged them to be careful._

"Louis?" Corinne said quietly "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Louis snapped out of the flashback and looked at her "Uh, yeah. I'm great."

"Okay." She nodded a bit unsure "How about we move on. You're good enough with the sword." she took the sword from him and returned it to it's sheath "Now, if I know Buck, which I do. He'll just throw a punch when he feels like it. Trust me, I know. We used to wrestle."

"Dare I ask who won?" Louis question with a tease.

"Me." Corinne laughed "Then I got punished by my mother, so... Anyhoo."

For the next hour, Corinne tutored Louis in hand to hand combat, figuring that it would probably be his best means of protection. Against Buck and those trying to kill him.

When the sun began to peek over the horizon, she announced it was time to head back.

"Are you sure?" Louis asked, slightly disappointed "Can't we a stay a little while longer?"

"No." Corinne chuckled "There's chores that need done. You go on to the house. I'm going to go see if the corn's almost ready to pick."

Louis shrugged "Okay." then he jogged towards the house.

With a slight laugh, Corinne headed towards the corn field "Princes." as she walked down one of the long rows, looking at the plants as she went "Mm-hm. Should be perfect in a few days."

"I'm afraid you don't have your garden rake."

She spun around to see Jasper with two other men standing behind her "You again?"

"Not just me." Jasper growled, pointing behind her "I've got some friends."

Corinne looked over her shoulder. There were five men standing behind her. _"There's too many."_ she thought, but she dropped into a ready pose "Bring it."

"**Good morning, Louis." **Aramina greeted "Out for an early morning stroll?"

"Huh?" Louis looked over at the red head then nodded "Oh, yeah."

"Where's Corinne?" Viveca asked with a slight smile.

"She's going to check on the corn."

Renee shook her head, then mumbled under her breath "Knew they were together!" then she froze.

Louis noticed all three girls' faces take on a similar expression. Then they looked at each other.

"Uh..." Renee said slowly "We're going to go... help her." then she and the other two ran off.

"I'm guessing that wasn't just me." Viveca said as they raced towards the corn field.

"Apparently not." Renee answered "All three of us get the feeling that something isn't quite right at the same time? That is not a coincident."

"Listen!" Aramina gasped.

Since they were closer, they could now hear the sound of men shouting.

**Corinne's arms were** yanked viciously behind her back by Jasper "Enough!" he barked "You're finished!"

Corinne tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong "Why are you here? I'm a country girl living in the outskirts of Gascony! I don't have anything you'd want!" she knew what they were after, but she wanted to know exactly what they knew.

"But you do have something we want." The man answered "And I believe you know who it is. My master wants the Prince dead!"

Corinne's eyebrows lowered "You're master?" then her eyes widened "Philippe is behind this!"

Jasper groaned "I as not supposed to let you know that. No matter. You won't be able to pass it along."

"Wanna bet?" Renee shouted "What if she's not the only one who heard it?"

Jasper and his men spun around to see the three girls with their arms crossed standing behind them.

Corinne smiled with relief "You're doomed." she said to Jasper.

The man scoffed "You're just a bunch of little girls... who will all be destroyed!" he nodded at his men "Get them!"

The three girls took off running, the seven men followed.

Corinne smiled "You do realize that they just left you alone, right?"

Jasper frowned "I think you forget who has who's arms held behind her back."

"True. But I don't have a man ready to pull a sword on my throat now either." Thus saying, she dropped into duck-and- roll, taking Jasper down with her. He hit the ground and groaned.

Corinne leapt to her feet and ran off to help her friends. There was no use hanging on to Jasper, there was nothing around to tie him up with.

By time she found her friends, they had three of the seven men unconscious.

"Now it's even." Viveca said as Corinne joined them "Run now, or meet your fate."

"Come on." one whispered, then they rtook off running, dragging their comrades with them.

"So it was Philippe." Renee said slowly "No wonder he got so 'you're delusional' on us."

Aramina nodded "We were trying to blow his own plot!"

Corinne rubbed her forehead "I wonder if he's the one who tried to kill Louis at the ball, or if he got Jasper to do it." she huffed "I'm really starting to wish we'd made costumes and weapons, then snuck into the castle through the passageways."

"Yeah. And came up with fake names or something." Renee added.

"We're going to have to keep an extra eye on the prince." Viveca said "And try to get him to remember. It's too dangerous for him to be completely oblivious to the fact that his life is in danger!"

Renee nodded in agreement "And we have to do it fast! Philippe going to start getting desperate. With Louis still alive, he doesn't have a shot at the throne." then they all headed back towards the house.

"_Maybe..." _Corinne shook her head before she let the thought fully develop _"Corinne! Stop it! You know Louis has to go back!"_

**Three days later, **a whole bunch of wagons started pulling into yard loaded with people and wood and food.

"What is going on?" Renee asked slowly.

Corinne looked over at her mother and smiled "Well what do ya know?"

Marie laughed "They always come through!"

"Who do?" Viveca asked.

"Our neighbors."

"You have neighbors?"

"That still doesn't answer my question." Renee spoke up.

"It's a barn raising." Corinne answered "When someone's barn burns down, the whole country side comes to build a new one."

"And they get it done in one day?" Aramina asked in awe "Just like in the books?"

"Yep." Corinne chuckled.

"Hey, Rinny!"

"And the one person I was hoping couldn't make it."

Buck waved from his wagon "I got everyone together! Even got plans for the new barn!"

"Yeah, you're going to build it just like the old one!" Corinne called back "_No _exceptions!"

"Aw, come on!" Buck called, but the girls simply walked away "Spoil sport."

"I believe that _is _her decision." Louis said "It is her barn."

"What business is this of yours?" Buck snapped, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"I guess we'll find out." Louis answered evenly. Then he walked away.

Buck growled as he watched the other young man leave "Before this day is over, I swear I'm going to hit him so hard, his head is going to swim!"

**(Woo! My characters are really giving me a run for my money! They've decided that they're not going to speak to me! Well, I suppose you all can guess what happens in the next chapter. Here's a hint, Buck and Louis and ALOT of action! (if I can write it) Well, Enjoy! Thanks for all the Reviewz!)**


	9. Fallin for Ya

"Hey!" A family called as their wagon passed.

Corinne waved back "How's it going?"

The mother looked into the back of her wagon and smiled "Fine." she pointed down into the back and winked.

Renee looked over at Corinne confused "What was that for?"

Corinne took a step back "Uh..."

Just then, a whole passel of boys leapt out of the back of the wagon, a ranging between the ages of three and seven.

"Whoa!" Viveca's mouth popped open, then she quickly

started counting "Ten?"

"Get her!" One of the boys shouted, then with a war cry, all the boys charged at Corinne, who spun around and took off running "Catch you girls later!"

The three watched as the boys went running past all shouting and laughing.

"I hope she's has fun." Renee mumbled.

"**Is there something **I can do to help?" Louis asked.

Marie looked around "Um... I really think you should avoid stressing your shoulder."

"So... what can I do?"

"You can..." Marie thought a second, then she smiled "When these things come up, Corinne is generally running around with the kids. Maybe you could go help her."

Louis' face lit up "Gladly." then he jogged off.

Marie chuckled "I really like that boy."

When Louis found Corinne, she had fifteen kids clinging to her. Some to her arms, a couple around her neck, some hanging on to her waist and several to her legs. A couple of boys had their hands wrapped around her ankles and were being dragged across the ground.

There were also several kids running around her laughing.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched them. Corinne's eyes were sparkling as she lugged the kids around, laughing as she attempted not to trip.

"Hello." Louis greeted "I don't believe I know you."

Corinne laughed "Hi. What are you doing?"

"Your mom said for me to come help you keep the kids occupied."

The children that were running around Corinne stopped and gasped. Then they ran over and jumped onto Louis.

"Whoa!" He stumbled backwards but managed to keep his footing. It wasn't long till he looked like Corinne... completely covered.

"Are you alright?" Corinne asked "Kids! Watch his left arm!"

"Okay!" the kids echoed, then they quickly rearranged themselves so his left arm was free.

"I'm good." Louis chuckled "I... think I can handle this." he looked over to see her staring at him, a bright smile on her face "What?"

She shook her head "Nothing."

For the next several hours, men worked to build the barn while half the ladies prepared lunch and the other half went to harvest the fields.

During lunch, Corinne caught up with the three girls "What's up?"

"This is kind of fun, I have to admit." Renee said "I can actually see how people live like this."

"Oh! Corinne!" Viveca suddenly gasped "Is it true that at the end of the day you throw a party?"

"Mm-hm." Corinne nodded "The barn is normally built by then. So, everyone celebrates by... a party."

"Perfect!" Viveca spun around and ran into the house.

"Where is she going?" Corinne asked slowly.

"No idea." Aramina answered "By the way, there are some _cute _boys out here!"

"Naturally." Renee rolled her eyes "What have you been doing all day, Corinne?"

"Babysitting." The blond answered "Come on. Let's help serve."

As soon as lunch was finished, everyone got back to work. They worked till the sun disappeared behind the horizon and a brand new barn was standing.

"Well, I think we're done!" Buck announced "Good job every one!" he walked over to Corinne and put his arm over her shoulders "What do you think?"

"I think you have an unusual attraction for girls." Corinne answered "Your girlfriend is very unique."

Buck looked over to the figure under then yelped as he spotted the scarecrow "What on earth!"

Corinne snickered "I'm sure you'll be happy together." then she walked off.

Louis laughed "Yes, Buck. You're girlfriend is... how do I say this? Scary?" then he walked away.

Buck growled and knocked the scarecrow over "He's dead."

"Corinne! Aramina! Renee!" Viveca called "Where are you?"

"Right behind you." Renee answered.

Viveca spun around "Come on!" she grabbed Corinne's wrist with her right hand and Renee's with her left "Let's go!"

Aramina just followed.

"Where are we going?" Corinne asked, trying desperately to keep her footing.

"To get ready for the party!" Viveca answered as they entered the house.

"Viveca," Corinne shook her head "It's a barn..."

"A party is a party!" Viveca interrupted, holding up four dresses "Get ready!"

Renee'e eyes widened "Viveca! Those are ball gowns! We're on a farm!"

"Fine fine fine." The brunette huffed "I'll make them a little more casual." she quickly pulled off the long skirts to show shorter ones "Better?"

Corinne ran her hand over her mouth and mumbled "Sore thumbs."

"No kidding." Renee mumbled back.

Viveca sighed with satisfaction "And I was starting to think there was nothing civilized about this place."

"**There is nothing **civilized about this place!" Viveca exclaimed as the four peeked into the barn "Why didn't you warm me it was a literal Barn Dance!"

Corinne chuckled "Some people call it a Hoedown. And I tried." she looked down at her bright pink dress and boots "We're a little... fancy."

"A little?" Renee held up the skirt to her blue dress "We look like fruit loops in a bowl of cocoa puffs!"

"I like mine." Aramina said "The green is beautiful. And Viveca, that purple looks beautiful on you."

"Okay." Corinne shook her head "At least they're not long ballgowns anymore." she spun in a small circle "And... they're comfy."

"Well, girls." Viveca said "Let's make a lasting impression."

With a laugh, the four girls linked arms then walked into the barn.

"Whoa." one person gasped as the girls entered.

Almost everyone stopped and stared.

"Sweet dresses!" One girl called.

"Made exclusively by Viveca Charlemont." Aramina announced.

"They're beautiful." Marie said with a bright smile "Alright everyone! Let the party begin!"

A bunch of farmers with their various instruments restarted their upbeat music and several people started to square dance.

"Y'all look amazing." Louis said to the three, since Corinne was dancing with everyone else.

"Thank you." Viveca said, obviously pleased with herself "Look how it flairs when you're dancing!"

Louis looked to where she pointed and smiled.

Everyone was laughing as they passed around their partners. But Louis couldn't help but think that Corinne was definitely the most beautiful one there.

"Why don't you go dance?" Aramina whispered.

"No no." Louis chuckled "I wouldn't know the first thing about barn dancing."

"Then what dancing would you know about?" Renee asked slyly.

"I'm... not sure." He remembered doing some kind of dancing somewhere. But he couldn't quite figure it out.

Just then, Corinne ran over to him and grabbed his arm"Come on!"

"What?" Louis gasped as he was pulled into the middle of the barn "I don't..."

"I know. But what's a better time to learn?"

"They are soooo cute." Aramina sighed.

"This is bad!" Renee hissed.

"Why?" Viveca asked.

"Don't you see?" Renee pointed to where Corinne was attempting to teach Louis the steps to a barn dance "Once he gets his memory back, he's going back to Paris. Corinne's going to be here."

"Oh." Aramina said slowly "You think... She might get hurt."

"What Prince would chose a country girl over noble?" Renee shook her head "She'll just end up heart broken."

Several minutes later, the music stopped and Corinne went and joined the girls "What's up?"

"You made the prince square dance!" Aramina squealed quietly.

Corinne's face went blank for a moment then she cringed "Oh. Yeah."

"You forgot, didn't you?" Renee said, crossing her arms.

"No I didn't!" Corinne shook her head defiantly _"Maybe a little."_

"Alright everyone!" The man playing the fiddle called "We've had a special request from Marie D'artagnon to sing her favorite song."

There was a light round of cheers.

"And..." the man continued "I think we all know who sings that song best! Corinne D'artagnon!"

Corinne cringed "No no. Get Tammy and Jane to sing it."

"No!" The man laughed "Get up here! Don't disappoint your mummy now!"

Corinne shook her head "Uh..."

"Go on!" Someone from the crowd shouted "Go!"

"On one condition." Corinne pointed to her three friends "They back me up."

"It's a deal!" The violin player started clapping "Get on up here girls!"

"Corinne! I don't do stages." Renee hissed as they made their way towards the makeshift stage.

"Me neither." Corinne responded "But I don't necessarily have a choice."

"Stages are my thing!" Viveca squealed quietly.

"We know." the other three echoed.

The four girls stepped up onto the stage as everyone started cheering again.

"Alright!" The same man as before called "Everyone, get a partner and get ready to dance!"

Then, the band started to play a moderate beat song.

Corinne smiled as the intro was played, then she started singing:

_**The day started ordinary **_

_**boys walking by (**_The three - **_Oooh oooh)_**

_**It was the same old story**_

_**too fresh or too shy (**_The three - **_Oooh oooh)_**

Louis started smiling brightly. Those four were simply amazing.

_**I'm not the kind to fall for a guy **_

_**who flashes a smile (**_The three - **_It goes on for miles)_**

_**Don't usually swoon**_

_**But I'm over the moon (**_The three - H_**e was just too cool for school)**_

_**And Now I'm**_

All - _**Fallin' for ya, fallin' for ya**_

Corinne - _**I know I shouldn't but I**_

_**I just can't stop myself from **_

All - _**Fallin' for ya, fallin' for ya**_

Corinne - _**can't hold on any longer**_

_**and now I'm falling for you**_

Louis looked over to see Buck glaring at him.

"This song is to me." the farm boy mouthed.

Louis' eyebrows rose "Don't be so sure." he responded

Corinne - _**Now we're goin' steady**_

_**He's the cat's meow (**_The three - **_Meow meow)_**

_**He says I'm so pretty**_

_**and we paint the town (**_The three - **_Oooh oooh)_**

_**I'm not the kind to fall for a guy **_

_**Just 'cause he says hi (**_The three - **_when he's cruisin' by)_**

_**He's ready to race**_

_**But I'm catching his game (**_The three - **_They'll go on like this for days)_**

As the chorus was sung again, more people joined the dance. Everyone was smiling... except for Buck.

Corinne - _**Feels like a tumble from another world**_

_**into your arms and so secure**_

_**Maybe I'll stumble but I know for sure**_

_**Head over heels I'm gonna be your girl**_

Corinne looked back at her friends and smiled as a long interlude was played.

"Come on." Aramina whispered "Let's join the dance."

The four girls stepped off the stage and quickly fell into step with everyone else.

None of them could help but smile as they were passed from partner to partner and all around the room.

As the interlude came to an end, Corinne was spun into Louis' arms.

Corinne - _**And Now I'm**_

All - _**Fallin' for ya, fallin' for ya**_

Corinne - _**I know I shouldn't but I**_

_**I just can't stop myself from **_

All - _**Fallin' for ya, fallin' for ya**_

Their eyes met and she smiled

Corinne - _**can't hold on any longer**_

_**and now I'm fallin' for you**_

Everyone began to cheer loudly as the music came to an end.

Neither Corinne nor Louis could seem to move as they just stood there staring at each other.

Very slowly, Louis started to lean towards her, but the next thing he knew, someone grabbed the back of his shirt and hurled him across the room.

"You really think you're somethin' don't ya?" Buck growled.

**(I know I promised Buck/Louis fight this chapter... but it'll have to wait till the next. :) Thank you for your continued support everyone! Laterz!**

**Oh, and for those reading Music of the Heart 2, I'm at writers block! My mind is empty! So, there might not be an update for a little while:( thanks for understanding.)**


	10. The Fight-An impossible question

**Louis scrambled to **his feet "What is your problem?"

"My problem is the likes of you!" Buck shouted.

Corinne wasn't sure who pulled her from between the two boys, but she couldn't take her eyes off the dual.

"This could get messy." Renee mumbled.

Corinne shook her head "I've been teaching Louis to fight."

"This is going to be good!"

Buck walked straight to Louis and threw a punch at him.

Louis leaned out of the way, his countenance visibly falling as his eyebrows lowered.

Buck took a deep breath then swung his large fist at Louis again.

This time, Louis grabbed his wrist and flipped him over onto his back.

"What kind of fighting did you teach him?" Viveca asked.

"Everything." Corinne answered.

Buck leapt up from from barn floor "You'll be sorry for that!" then he tackled Louis right in the stomach.

Several of the teenage and younger boys started cheering and shouting as Buck and Louis rolled around on the floor.

"I'll teach you to try and steal my girl!" Buck said, red faced and puffing.

Louis rolled them over so he was the one on top "She was never yours!"

Buck threw a punch into Louis' jaw, knocking him off, then quickly had him pinned down "You wanna bet!"

Louis rammed his knee into Buck's stomach and knocked him over "Isn't it obvious?"

Buck grabbed Louis' shirt collar and slammed the prince into the ground "Don't make me beat you to a pulp!" all of the sudden, someone grabbed his shoulders and yanked him back, then slung him several feet away.

"That is enough!" Corinne shouted.

Instantly, the whole barn became silent.

The two boys jumped to their feet, and Buck started running back towards Louis, so the other young man instinctively jumped into a ready pose.

"If either one of you make one more move to hit each other, I swear I'll whip both of you!"

Both boys became stock still.

Even though Buck was headstrong, proud and stubborn, he knew not to mess with Corinne when she was mad. And right now, her eyes were flashing with sheer aggravation.

"Listen." She said through partially gritted teeth "I know what you two are fighting about. And before you decide to go and kill each other, did you ever think to ask _me _about this?" she turned to face Buck "Listen to me and you had better listen good. I do not like you. I never have and never will!"

"What about him?" Buck cried, pointing at Louis.

"I am not talking to Louis right now!" Corinne snapped "Do not try and change the subject. Now, if you _ever _attack someone because of me again, you're going to have to finish the fight with me." she almost got nose to nose with him "And I can whip you a lot easier now than I could when we were ten."

There was a slight round of chuckles from the men.

Buck glanced around nervously, but Corinne didn't even blink.

"Let's go mom." Buck finally mumbled, then he left the barn, picking his stetson up on his way out.

Corinne let out a large huff of air then turned to face Louis "Are you alright?"

Louis gave her a small smile "Yeah."

"Is your shoulder okay?"

"Yeah."

She cocked her head to look at the spot where Buck had punched him "What about your jaw?"

Louis ran his hand over the spot "I think it'll be fine."

Corinne smiled slightly "Good."

Louis smiled down at her, then his gaze flicked behind her "Look out!" he grabbed her arm and jumped to the side, pulling her with him just as an arrow whizzed past.

Corinne spun around to see Jasper and his men standing in the doorway and immediately knew that that arrow had been aimed at Louis, not her.

With a groan she turned to face the man completely "I am _not _in the mood for this right now!"

The other three girls went to stand by her side.

"Left of your skirt." Viveca whispered "Between the pleats."

Corinne reached her hand to the designated spot and felt something hard. Her hand grasped it, then she pulled it out. She smiled as she looked at her sword "Convenient."

"You too, Aramina." Viveca said "As you know, Renee. Yours is around your neck."

Renee nodded as she pulled off her necklace. Aramina pulled out two fans and Viveca pulled out two long ribbons.

Everyone in the barn backed up uncertain as the four girls faced the eight men.

"Get them!" Jasper shouted "And do it right this time!"

Louis stared at Jasper. He looked so... familiar. Then he recognized him. The head of the Regent's men! And the regent was his cousin, Philippe! Jasper was also the man who had shot him. And the man with the lion mask had been Philippe!

"I _am_ the prince." Louis mumbled. Then his gaze flipped to Corinne. She had saved him from his runaway balloon! That's where he knew her from! And the attraction that he'd acquired for her hadn't started on the farm either.

Half of the men were down, and the girls were starting to finish off the last of them.

Corinne purposely got her sword locked with Jasper's "Tell Philippe," she whispered "That no matter who he sends or how hard you try, you will not hurt Louis while he's here. Ever. Now leave." she pushed the man back.

"Let's go!" Jasper shouted, then he and the men fled from the barn.

Everything was deathly silent for a long moment, then everyone began cheering.

"I knew it!" One old man shouted "I never doubted that a girl could fight!"

"Me neither!" Another one piped up "I never said Corinne couldn't be a musketeer either!"

Corinne chuckled and turned to face her friends "They've all said it at least twice."

"I bet they'll never say it again." Renee chuckled.

The four girls quickly hugged each other as the clapping continued.

Louis looked down at the ground. He knew he had to go back to Paris. But it didn't seem the least bit appealing, considering the only family member he had wanted him dead. He looked over to where the girls were.

Or... he could pretend he still didn't remember and just stay in Gascony... with Corinne.

**It was really **late by time the last guest left and everyone could finally retire.

When Corinne was about to go inside, Louis stopped her.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." he said nervously "About the fight. It... should have never happened."

Corinne smiled "I know. But it wasn't your fault. Buck is simply impossible." she slowly met his gaze "Actually I wanted to thank you for standing up to him. Not many people do."

Louis nodded "It was my pleasure."

Corinne sent him one last smile before she went inside.

Louis looked up at the stars "Yeah. I would much rather stay here."

**Corinne climbed the **ladder to the attic and fell down on her bed "What a day."

"Yeah, I meant to tell you about the weapons earlier, but I forgot." Viveca said "They came in handy."

Renee chuckled "It's probably good that you didn't. Corinne may have used her sword on Buck."

"Do you think Louis' okay?" Aramina asked.

"He'll be okay." Corinne answered "Well, good night. Chores start early tomorrow." it wasn't long till her friends were fast asleep. But Corinne just lay there staring at the ceiling, her mother's favorite song playing through her head.

Marie had deemed that song her favorite because it was being sung at a harvest party when she'd met D'artagnon.

Corinne remembered when she was little... like five. Her mom would sing that song while she cooked and her father would join her on choruses. Until he died.

Now, Marie hummed it, but didn't sing.

Corinne rolled over onto her side and sighed.

Seriously, that song was perfect for the situation she was in with Louis.

'_"I know I shouldn't but I just can't help myself." _Played through her mind _"But you have to. He's the prince!"_ she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow _"How on earth did I fall for the prince?"_

**The next morning, **Corinne and Louis started out early for the fighting lesson like usual.

"I don't think I've ever been to a barn raisin' before." Louis said as they walked "Or a Hoedown."

Corinne chuckled "I seriously doubt you have."

"Me too. I think I would have remembered having that much fun." he smiled down at her "You're an amazing singer. So are your friends."

Corinne shrugged "I just sing it for my mom. I'm not really into stuff like that. I mainly stick to sword fighting."

"You don't have any other hobby?"

"Mucking out stalls?"

They both laughed.

"By the way, how's your jaw?"

Louis flexed it slightly "Sore but good. That guy can punch!"

"He's called a cattle puncher for a reason." Corinne shook her head "I'm surprised you held up as good as you did. And that your shoulder didn't suffer."

"I've been well taught and well bandaged." Louis replied.

Corinne smiled and looked down at her feet. _ And now I'm fallin' for ya. Fallin for ya'._

She shook her head and picked up the pace.

"Um... Corinne?" Louis said slowly "Can I ask you something?"

Corinne stopped and turned to face the young man "Sure."

"You know that fight that happened last night?"

"Yeah?"

"You know what it was about, right?"

Corinne chuckled "Of course."

"Well..." he took a step closer to her "I was wondering... If that ever comes up again..." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck "If I could actually fight for you as _my _girl."

Corinne's eyes widened "What?" it came out as more of a squeak than a word.

"I want you to be _my _girl." Louis said "My girl that no one can take." he looked her straight in the face "I know it probably sounds selfish but... I don't want to lose you. Or share you."

Corinne bit her bottom lip and looked down at the ground. She wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. More than anything she just wanted to throw her arms around his neck and say that it was a promise. But he was the prince and he didn't know who he was.

Corinne took a deep breath and looked up at him "Louis... I... can't."

The confused and hurt look that crossed his face was almost her undoing.

"I'm sorry." Corinne said quickly "But I... I just can't." then she spun around and ran back towards the house.

Louis stared after her then sighed "She knows you're the Prince, Louis." he said to himself "She's too sweet to say yes when she thinks you still don't remember." he ran his hand through his hair "Way to go."

**Corinne ran to **the back of the barn and leaned against the wall. Then she slowly slid to the ground "Why?"

Aramina walked around the corner just then and spotted her "Are you okay?" she asked, quickly running to her friend's side.

"Not really." Corinne answered "Where are the others?"

"Still asleep."

Corinne nodded "Can... I tell you something?"

"Of course." Aramina sat down beside the blond "I'm one of your best friends. You can tell me anything."

"Louis... asked me to be his girl." Corinne said slowly "As in... _His _girl."

Aramina's mouth fell open "He did!? What did you say?"

"I had to say no!" Corinne shook her head "He's the Prince, Aramina. Telling him yes when he thinks he's just a stable hand is... wrong." she picked at a piece of grass that was beside her.

Aramina smiled slightly "Did you _want _to say yes?"

Corinne slowly looked over at her friend "I did." she answered after a long moment "I re_ally _did." she huffed and leaned back into barn "I've seen both sides of him, Aramina. When he's a prince and when he's not. There's not much of a difference besides Prince Louis has everyone's expectations to live up to and Farm Louis is free to be himself."

"But Prince Louis is Farm Louis' self." The red head said gently.

"I know."

Aramina stared at her friend for a long moment "You... don't want him to remember who he is, do you?"

"Yes I do. Sorta." Corinne answered "It's actually half-in-half. I want him to remember because France needs him! But at the same time I don't want him to. I just want him to stay here... with me."

Aramina smiled gently "You've fallen in love with him."

"I didn't mean too." Corinne pulled her knees up to her chest "But I..."  
"Just can't help yourself." Aramina finished "Ever think you two might be... meant to be?"

"We're from two different worlds Aramina." Corinne said with a slow shake of her head "When he finally remembers who he is, he's not going to pick a Country Girl over all the duchesses and Princesses there are. It's just not done that way." she looked over at her friend and smiled "Thanks. For listening."

Aramina smiled and quickly hugged the blond "That's what I'm here for."

The two girls stood up to go get started on the morning chores

"Oh." Corinne said quickly "Don't tell Renee."

Aramina shook her head, her eyes wide "No."


	11. A Decision made

**The next couple **of days were hard and kind of awkward.

Corinne and Louis couldn't ever think of anything to say to each other besides "Hi" and the fighting lessons had ended.

Everyone could feel the awkward tension when Corinne and Louis were in the same spot, but no one, but Aramina, knew why.

Finally one evening, three days later, Louis couldn't take it any more. As soon as he caught Corinne alone, he approached her.

She was carrying buckets of water out to the cows.

"Hey." He said as he caught up with her "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Corinne answered, not stopping her progress across the field.

"I'm sorry." that made her stop "I didn't mean to upset you." Louis said "I really..."

"Wait." Corinne interrupted "Louis, it's not you that upset me. Well it is but..." she blew out a breath of air and sat down the two buckets she was carrying "Listen, it blows me away that you want _me _to be your girl." she shook her head "But while you still don't know who you really are, I don't think it's fair to say yes."

"Because you don't know my background?" Louis asked slowly.

"No." Corinne answered "If you got shot for a good reason, like stealing or... murdering someone, I wouldn't care."

His face lit up ever so slightly.

"But the point is," she continued "There may be a girl waiting for you. Wondering when you're going to come back."

"I can promise you there's not." Louis said quickly.

"Louis, you can't even remember your parents. How would you remember your girlfriend?" then she cringed. She had not meant for it to come out like that "I'm sorry."

"No, I get your point." Louis said with a small smile "I understand." He sent her a small smile "You know, it was really _you _that saved my life."

Corinne's eyebrows lowered in confusion "What?"

"I didn't know where I was." Louis explained, not quite able to hide his smile "I could have been with whoever shot me for all I knew. But... when you kissed me, I guess I knew I was safe."

Corinne's face flushed "How did you know that was me?"

"Because," he shrugged "I think you were the only one who would. I owe you my life." he held his hand out to her "Friends? At least?"

Corinne smiled and put her hand in his "Friends."

He seriously wanted to just kiss her right now, but he knew that was a bad idea.

**The next morning, **Buck rode into the yard, leading a frisky colt behind him.

"Howdy, Buck." Louis said with a bright smile "How are ya?"

Corinne swallowed a laugh as Buck scowled.

The farm boy opened his mouth to retort, but Corinne quickly shot him a warning glare that no one in their right mind would question.

"I brought the colt." He said instead "He's feisty."

"I noticed." Corinne took the lead from Buck then led the horse over to a corral.

"He'll be a bit of a challenge to break." Buck said, directing his statement at Louis "But then again, I've done it tons of times." then he turned his horse around and rode from the yard.

Louis stared after Buck then turned to face the corral "So..." he said to Corinne "Have you ever broken a horse?"

"Oh yes." the girl laughed "I've broken and gentled dozens of them. I think I broke my first one when I was seven."

"Cool." Louis nodded "Can I try?" he saw the 'Prince-on-a-wild-horse-bad-idea' look pass over her face "Please?"

"Um..." She shook her head slightly "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'll have to learn sooner or later."

"Maybe not."

"Please."

"I... no."

Louis walked over to stand directly in front of her. Their toes were barely an inch apart "Please."

Corinne looked up at him and after a long pause, finally sighed "Fine."

"Thank you!" then before he could hardly think, he bent down and kissed her cheek "This is going to be fun." then he ran over to the corral.

Corinne slowly turned around "Oh boy."

"What do I do?" Louis asked, waiting anxiously to get going _"If Buck can do this, I can."_

Corinne's next comment caught him completely off guard "You're not doing this because of Buck, are you?"

"_Can she read my mind for something?"_ he thought, but to her he said "No. 'Course not. I'd just like to try."

"Mm-hm." Corinne shook her head "I'll walk you through the gentling process. Just listen closely and do exactly as I say. Hopefully you won't get hurt."

"Alright."

Louis followed Corinne's instructions closely as she talked him through the process.

"Alright," Corinne said "Now very slowly get on his back."

Louis had just gotten up when the horse gave a shrill whinny and leapt into the air, sending the prince flying to the ground.

Corinne cringed then leapt over the fence "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Louis laughed, slowly getting back to his feet "You know, falling out of the balloon didn't hurt that bad."

Corinne froze and her eyebrows lowered "What?"

"What?" Louis looked at her confused "What's wrong?"

"What did you just say?"

Then he realized his slip. He wasn't supposed to remember the balloon! Too late now. He laughed nervously "Wonder where that came from."

Corinne put her hands on her hips "Louis. Do you... remember?"

Louis looked down at the ground and sighed "Yes."

"What!?" Corinne threw her hands into the air "And you didn't say anything!? Why?"

"I..." he searched his mind for some excuse. Anything! But his mind only drew a blank "I didn't want to go back."

"Come on." Renee whispered, grabbing Aramina and Viveca's arms "Let's go." then the three slipped away.

"Why not?" Corinne asked "You were just going to give up? What about France?"

"I didn't want to go back because the only family that I have wants me dead!" Louis answered "Philippe tried to kill me! More than once I might add." he slowly looked at her "I thought I could just stay here. With you."

"Louis." Corinne shook her head "But what about France? You're just going to let the man who tried to kill you take over? That easy?"

"There's nothing for me in Paris, Corinne." Louis insisted "I have no family, don't you see?"

Corinne stared at Louis for a long moment "Come with me."

Louis nodded and followed.

Corinne led Louis across the pasture and back into the woods through a tunnel of wisteria trees..

The petals from the flowers fell slowly, giving the illusion of snow as small rays of sunlight filtered through the branches and vines.

About fifty yards later, they stepped out of the tunnel. Before them was a ledge that looked out over a massive amount of space.

Louis couldn't help but stare "Whoa."

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Corinne commented, then she pointed into the far distance "See that? That's the castle."

Louis squinted but was finally able to make out the shape of the tall building "You can see Paris from here?"

"Mm-hm." Corinne smiled "I used to stand out here and dream about going there to be a musketeer." she turned to face the Prince "You said Philippe was the only family you had. You're wrong."

Louis shook his head "No. Everyone else in my family is dead."

Corinne looked back towards Paris "That may be true for a normal town person. But not for a prince. Especially a crown prince." when he looked at her confused, she continued "Don't you see? The whole kingdom is your family. Every single person. You have to look out for them. Support them. Help them. That's what families do. And even though your one blood relative wants you dead, you still have a million people who need you." she smiled "They're all your family."

Louis stared into the distance for a long moment, then he sighed "You're right." he turned to face her "I have to go back. I have to take my rightful place so I can take care of the people."

Corinne nodded "And for the record. You'll make an amazing king."

Louis smiled then turned and walked a few steps into the tunnel, then turned back and looked at her "Join me?" he asked as he held out his hand to her.

Corinne nodded "Of course."

As soon as her hand was in his, he took off running into the tunnel, taking Corinne by complete surprise.

When they were in the middle, he suddenly stopped, spun around and grabbed her shoulders. The next thing she knew, her back was being pressed into the hard trunk of a tree.

"What are you...?"

She was cut off as Louis' lips suddenly met hers in a tender kiss.

Corinne's hands flew up to clobber him but slowly relaxed back to her sides instead.

When he pulled back, he looked down at her and smiled "Thank you." he whispered.

Corinne just nodded mutely, still not quite sure of what just happened.

**(All you people have made this story worth writing! I really appreciate all the comments and encouragement I've gotten from you folkz! Thanks!)**


	12. Back to Paris

"I'm going back to Paris." Louis announced "I should have long before now."

"Thank goodness you came to a final conclusion." Renee said "Philippe, is going to be crowned in three days!"

"Three days!?" Corinne exclaimed "It takes two just to get there!"

"Then I guess I'd better leave." Louis said after a moment.

Marie smiled gently "It's been an absolute pleasure having you here, Louis." she laughed "I mean, Your Highness."

"Just call me Louis."

"Alright."

"Well, I guess this is where we say good bye too." Viveca said after a moment "I never thought I'd say this, but living on a farm has been fun."

Aramina giggled "_I_ never thought I'd hear you say that." she sighed dreamily "It's been a real eye opener."

"So, Aramina." Corinne said teasingly "If you were Giselle, would you have chosen the Prince or the stable hand?"

Aramina crossed her arms "I don't know Corinne. You tell me."

"Okay. Wrong question." Corinne mumbled, then she turned to face Louis "Good luck. I hope everything goes well."

One of Louis' eyebrows raised "Aren't you coming?"

"Uh..." She looked over at her friends "Not that I know of."

"The musketeers are MIA. And I have a feeling I might need a little back up." Louis cocked his head slightly and smiled "Come with me. Please."

Corinne slowly looked over at her mother.

"Go." Marie urged "You never know what might happen."

Corinne ran over to Marie and hugged her "Thank you."

**It took the **five all of fifteen minutes to be ready to go.

The girls were in the dresses that Viveca had made them for the party.

"I... actually made these to be our musketeer dresses." The brunette said "Might as well wear them for out first mission."

Corinne nodded "Too true." she glanced back to where Louis was talking to her mom "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we _had _snuck into the ball?"

"Let's see..." Aramina said "Louis would have asked you to dance. And the whole time you were dancing, he'd asking questions trying to figure out who you were! When Philippe attacked you would have been standing right there to stop him. Then he would have been drug away by the opposing enemy through the secret passageways!" her arms were moving dramatically as she kept on with the tale "We would have followed him through the wall and all the way to the roof where a final battle takes place!" she laughed "Then Philippe would have been arrested and we'd all be musketeers. Tada!"

"Yeah..." Renee said slowly "Pretty sure that wouldn't have happened."

Corinne chuckled "It would have gone a lot faster."

"Yeah, one night instead of what... a month or two?" Viveca added "Maybe three?"

"I have no idea." Corinne answered "But it's been... fun. I think." she thought for a second "Does Philippe even know about the passageways?"

"I'm guessing no." Renee answered "Helene said it'd been forgotten."

"Well, you girls ready to ride?" Louis asked, walking towards them.

"You're the only on that's _not _mounted yet," Corinne retorted "By the way, I'm driving."

Louis shrugged "Okay." then he quickly mounted up behind her.

"Be careful!" Marie called.

"We will!" the girls echoed.

"Wait." Corinne pulled Alexander to a stop "Where's Miette?" The kitten came tearing out of the barn just then. Corinne scooped her of the ground and sat her in her lap "Now, let's go."

"**What!?" Philippe screamed **"You were defeated by a bunch of girls!? Again!?"

"Sire, they are no ordinary girls." Jasper said.

"I don't care if you had to fight of an army rabid chickens!" Philippe grabbed Jasper's vest collar "Your order was to kill Louis! I've given you too many chances! He'll be back soon. Although I don't know why he hasn't come back already."

"I am sorry, Sir." Jasper said, trying to keep his dignity "I thought we'd have them at a disadvantage because of the party."

"Party?" Philippe's grip tightened "You busted in on a barn party!?" he growled in rage "Do you realize that every man out in the country messes with large animals! Animals bigger than you! You're lucky it was just the girls that decided to attack!" he shoved his henchman away "Don't let them enter the city."

"Yes, Sir."

"And if you fail one more time, it's going to be the end of you!"

"Yes, Sir."

"**Well, there's Paris." **Renee said "There may be trouble."

"I'm guessing Philippe ordered his men to keep us from getting inside." Corinne said "So... we need to find a way around them."

"But how?" Louis asked "Can we really sneak past all those men?"

"I don't think we're going to have to." Viveca said "Look!"

"Oh dear."

The whole group of the Regent's Men were charging at them.

"We hadn't even reached the gate yet!" Aramina gasped "Rude!"

"Now what?" Louis asked slowly.

Corinne slid out of the saddle and pulled out her sword "There's only one thing we can do." she looked up at the Prince "My father's sword is in the sheath in the saddle."

Louis nodded and quickly dismounted "This should be fun."

"Just stick close to one of us girls so we can get you out of trouble."

"Not a problem."

The other three girls leapt to the ground and pulled out their weapons.

"They had better not hurt these dresses." Viveca growled.

Then, the fight started. The mens' shouts were loud as they attempted to take down the girls and Prince.

"How ya doin'?" Corinne asked as she and Louis stepped back to back.

"This is fun, actually." Louis responded, pulling a sword from one of the mens' hands "Okay. Now I have two swords." he glanced back at her and winked.

Corinne just laughed "Well, use them!"

"These girls are crazy!" One of the men shouted.

"We're not crazy." Viveca retorted "We're dignifiedly-demented."

One of Corinne's eyebrows rose "I think I prefer crazy."

Ten minutes later the five were looking down at all the men laying on the ground.

"Shall we?" Viveca said, daintily stepping over one of the men.

Renee smirked "_Viveca _is dignifiedly-demented."

"Am not!" Viveca gasped.

"Come on." Corinne said "Let's get to the palace."

As they rode through town, people stared. Some started whispering while others were asking each other if that was the prince.

"I feel like a musketeer." Aramina whispered "Escorting the Prince home from a dark and dangerous journey."

"I don't think the journey's over yet." Louis responded as they pulled up in front of the castle "We still have Philippe to deal with." he sighed and shook his head "I just hope that he gives up peacefully."

Corinne sent him a reassuring smile "Everything will be fine. I promise."

the five dismounted and walked into the castle.

"Your Highness!" Madame Helene said shocked "Girls! What are... where have..."

"It's a long story, Madame." Corinne said "But he's back now."

Louis had a strange feeling that the girls and Helene had a deeper connection then just fellow maids.

"Where's Madame DeBosse?" Viveca asked slowly.

"She's out right now." Helene answered, looking at the Prince's outfit "I'd ask. But I'm too scared too."

"Where is Philippe?" Louis asked.

"In the throne room."

With a nod, the five walked down the hall to the large set of double door.

Louis took a deep breath and grabbed the handles "Wait here." he said to the girls "I'll call if I need you." then he went in.

As soon as the door closed, Corinne pressed her ear to the wood and listened.

"Philippe." Louis said as he walked across the room.

"Louis!" Philippe said with fake shock "Where have you been? I thought you were dead!"

"I know it was you who tried to kill me, Philippe." Louis snapped "I just want to know why."

"Louis! I would never!"

"You know, Corinne." Aramina said suddenly, pulling the blond's attention away from the door "We need to find you a double title."

"A what?" Corinne asked.

"A double title." the red head answered "You know... Me, I'm gonna be a musketeer and Hopeless Romantic. Renee is musketeer and Musician. And Viveca's musketeer and Fashionista. We need one for you!"

Corinne rolled her eyes "I'll be happy with just plain musketeer."

"Ooh! I've got one! Musketeer and queen!"

"What!?"

Aramina fluttered her eyelashes "How was the kiss?"

Corinne's face flushed with embarrassment "How did you know about that?"

"Oh, I didn't. I just said it to see which response I'd get."

The other two laughed quietly.

"Perfect." Corinne grumbled, turning to put her ear back to the door. After a few seconds she looked over at her friends "It's too quiet in there. _Way _too quiet." with out waiting another second, she pushed the door open. The room was completely empty "Oh no."

"Where did they go?" Viveca gasped.

"There's only one place they could have gone." Corinne answered "The passageways!"

**(Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows. I'm so glad you like my stories! Also, if you like one of my ideas so much that you feel like writing it, I would appreciate it if you'd ask first. Thanks. Laterz!)**


	13. The End

Corinne bolted over to one of the walls "Come on. Where's the trigger?" she pushed on every brick she could get her hands on, then she pulled the and twisted the candelabras "It has to be here somewhere!" she ran her hand over the bricks again _"Louis. Why did I let you come in here alone?"_

"Where in the carnation is that trigger?" Renee mumbled.

Every brick and candelabra had been pushed or twisted, but no wall had moved.

"It has to be here somewhere." Viveca said "It _has _to be!"

Aramina looked over at Corinne who was standing stock still, staring into space "Are you alright?"

"When brought before the Majesty, a secret passage lays unseen." Corinne quoted to herself "When you turn the lighted wheel the hidden door will reveal."

"What?" the other three echoed.

Corinne glanced around the room, her gaze finally landing on a candle tick holder that was sitting on the mantle of the large fireplace. It had eight candles that were set in a round shape. With a smile, she ran over to the fireplace and twisted the top of the candle holder. There was a groan and whole wall behind the fireplace moved back and away "Yes!"

"How did you know that?" Aramina asked, clapping with joy.

"My dad used to quote that to me when I was little." Corinne chuckled "He _claimed _it was just a nursery rhyme. Come on." she and the other three ran through the opening and closed it behind them.

"There are miles of these passageways!" Aramina gasped "Which way do we go?"

"We'll find him." Corinne said reassuringly "I know we will." she glanced around then pointed down one of the long halls "This way."

They took off running down the dimly it halls, hoping they were choosing the right way. And hoping they weren't too late.

They began to pass on hallway when Corinne skid to a stop, a slight smirk crossed her face.

The musketeers were tied up, leaning against the walls "Looks like the Big Boys could use a little help."

"Probably some food too." Renee added "I doubt they can walk."

Corinne nodded "You untie them, I'll keep looking for Louis." then she took off around a corner.

The girls slowly walked over to the musketeers.

Viveca pulled Treville's gag off "Believe us now?" she challenged "None of this would have happened if you had just listened."

Treville smiled sheepishly. The girls were right.

**Corinne ran all **through the passageways with no sign of the Prince nor his cousin "Louis has probably never been in here before!" she said to herself "But lost is better than dead." she opened one of the walls and stepped out onto the terrace "Where is he?"

**Louis started running **up a large case of stairs, Philippe right behind him _"Why did I go in there alone again?"_ he mentally chided himself _"You are so stupid!"_

"You might as well give up!" Philippe shouted "You'll never escape."

But Louis pressed ahead, pretty sure that if he could buy some more time the girls would show up.

Honestly, the thought of getting saved by a bunch of girls wasn't so bad whne you were running for your life!

He came to the top of the stairs... dead end. He looked around quickly. The only exit was a window... to the roof. He jumped out the window, not having any other way to escape.

Then he ran till the roof ran out. He looked down at the ground... it was far. _Really _far.

Philippe jumped out behind him and laughed "That's right, Cousin. A dead end."

Louis' eyebrows lowered. Why hadn't he brought the sword? "Philippe! You will _never _get the kingdom! Ever!"

The regent was stunned for a second. Louis had never been so outspoken! "I will! And no one can stop me!" he swung his sword at the prince, who ducked then knocked the hand away. Philippe tried again, but his cousin somehow kept avoiding the blows.

"What did that pathetic blond teach you out on that farm?" Philippe growled.

Louis grabbed the man's sword wrist "How to defend myself. And by the way, her name is Corinne!" then he twisted Philippe's arm and flipped him over onto the roof.

Philippe's rage was high as he got back to his feet "Your bare hand are no match for a blade!" he shouted, once again swinging it at the Prince.

Louis leapt back, the blade caught the sleeve of his shirt but missing him.

Suddenly, Philippe smiled and put his sword back into it's sheath "You know what. I think I'll do this the fun way!"

Before Louis could even blink, Philippe grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back.

The pain that shot from the Prince's shoulder was almost enough to make him black out. He felt the wound that they had worked on getting healed for weeks tear back open. His strength drained and he fell to his knees.

"Too easy." Philippe laughed.

**Corinne ran out **onto a small balcony and spotted the two down below. She watched as Philippe grabbed Louis' arm and twisted it.

The Prince's face twisted in pain and he sank to his knees.

"No!" she groaned "I have to get down there!" then she spotted a large banner hanging nearby. Not her first choice, but her only one. She grabbed the side of it and stepped up onto the side of the balcony "Just land right." she told herself "And don't fall." she took a deep breath and jumped. The banner sliced through the air, winging her in the right direction. Then she let go.

Philippe watched wide eyes as the girl flipped through the air, then landed directly between him and Louis, who was still on his knees.

"You _again_ blondie?" Philippe growled "What does it take to get rid of you!?"

Corinne help up her sword "Nothing as small as you."

Philippe lunged for her, his sword drawn, but she easily blocked all his moves.

Corinne moved to a different part of the roof, giving herself more room to move and the assurance that she wasn't going to accidentally trip over the Prince.

Two minutes later, Philippe's sword was yanked from his hand, and both blades held to his throat.

"Uh..." he took an unsure step back.

Corinne followed, a smirk on her face.

The Regent's foot slipped off the side of the roof and he fell, but managed to grab onto the edge of the ceiling.

Corinne dropped the hand that was holding Philippe's sword down by her side, but pointed her sword down at the man "Still believe a _girl _doesn't possess the proper skills?" she challenged.

Philippe just stared at her. He'd gotten beat by a girl!

Corinne turned a walked over to Louis, placing her sword in hidden panel of her skirt "Are you alight?" she asked, noting the way he was holding his arm.

"Yes." he answered "Are you?"

"Never been better."

He smiled "You know, I knew you'd show up."

Philippe pulled himself back up onto the roof. His desire for one more shot at revenge powering him. Revenge on... _her._

He pulled his dagger from his belt charged at them.

"Look out!" Louis grabbed Corinne's hand and twisted her around.

The two blades met, and with one small move Philippe's dagger flew from his hand.

"I wouldn't try anything again." Louis warned. Then he looked down at Corinne and smiled.

She couldn't help but return it. How did she keep getting into these predicaments? Somehow, she and Louis had ended up in a sort of dance pose.

The other three girls appeared on the roof just then.

"Oh yay." Renee said "You left us the fun part." she rubbed her hands together "We get to drag him away!" she grabbed one arm and Viveca grabbed his other.

"Let me go!" Philippe shouted "Now!" but he couldn't break the hold of the two girls.

Aramina sent Corinne and Louis a thumbs up, then winked. Without waiting another second, she turned around and ran after the others.

Louis released Corinne and held out his hand "Shall we?"

She nodded and easily slipped her hand into his "Let's go."

The girls had gotten Philippe _and _ his men into a wagon to cart them off to jail.

"We had a little fun while waiting." Viveca reported "They showed up just now, so we nabbed 'em."

Renee hit the back of the wagon "Take them away!"

Treville came walking up to them. His legs were still trying to get used to moving "I owe all of you an apology." he said "To you girls, for not listening. And to the prince for not succeeding in my duty to keep hm safe."

"It's alright, Treville." Louis said "But, while you and the boys can't move... I'm going to need _someone _to guard the palace." he glanced over at the four girls "Aren't I?"

**It was two **days later when the girls became the first female musketeers ever!

All of Paris had shown up to witness the musketeering as well as the coronation. They had all heard of how Louis' life had been saved on several occasions.(And there wasn't a soul that missed the change in his voice when he spoke of Corinne.)

"And now!" Louis announced "Your place is with the musketeers!"

Every one began to clap and cheer loudly.

"Musketeers!" The four girls laughed with a high-five.

Corinne then ran over to Louis and hugged him "Thank you."

"It was the least I could do." he chuckled "You four saved my life. Several times."

They migrated towards the ground, from the balcony they had been standing on, to greet the people.

"Best day ever!" Viveca squealed "I am so making new uniforms for the guys!"

"Why not let the boys stay the fashion disaster." Renee said "We get to be the pretty ones."

"Point... Sounds good!"

Corinne left the three to go talk to her mom who was standing off to the side.

Louis smiled as he watched her. Then a hand tapped his shoulder. He turned around, a smirk spreading across his face "Hello Buck."

The country boy's hat was in his hands "Hey, Your Majesty." he said nervously "I guess I should apologize."

Louis shrugged "It's fine Buck." then he leaned a little closer and whispered "Leave her alone."

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Buck nodded quickly and put his hat on his head. Then he scampered away.

Corinne looked back at her mom "What's Buck doing here?"

"Louis invited him." Marie answered, then she sighed "I am so proud of you!" with a laugh, she pulled her daughter into a tight hug "I knew you'd do it!"

"Thanks, Mom." Corinne smiled "You were the only one who never doubted."

"Um... Corinne?" Louis said slowly, stepping up behind her.

"Hm?" Corinne turned around to face him "Yes, Your Majesty?"

He raised an eyebrow but shook it off "I know our first balloon ride ended badly. I was wondering if you'd like to take another one."

Corinne's face lit up "It it trustworthy?"

"No."

"Stable?"

"No."

"Do you know how to land it?"

"No."

"Then I'm in."

"Corinne!" Viveca called "Come on!" she was sitting on the back of a horse, along with the other two "Let's take a Victory Ride!"

Corinne laughed "Is the ride open for later?"

Louis nodded "Have fun."

Corinne ran and flipped onto Alexander's back "Let's go."

The four girls rode towards the city gates. Once outside, they pulled their horses to a stop.

"All for one!" They chorused "And one for all!"

Louis smiled as he watched them ride away. He'd give her a little time to get used to being a musketeer before he popped another title on her. His grin widened. A title only _he _could give her.

THE END

**(bum bum bum! Weird! I finished two stories at the same time! AHHH! Okay... done. Well, as far as I know, there's no sequel yet. But as I told someone recently, you never know when a spontaneous idea may hit. :) Well... Hope you enjoy the next story up! Laterz! Oh yeah, thanks for EVERYTHING! WOOHOO! _Yeah, don't ask. I'm crazy. :) _)**


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